A Specter of Summer
by Just Will
Summary: When Dash decided to take a job as a lifeguard for the summer he never thought he'd end up with so much more.
1. First day on the job

'This wasn't how it was supposed to be,' Dash thought as he sat in a life guard chair under an umbrella and looked out over the empty pool. He was supposed to be sleeping in, enjoying his summer break after his junior year, and working his part time job during the middle of the day when most people came to swim, not waking up at the crack of dawn to come watch the pool at 8 am for anyone who wanted to swim that early when the water was still cold.

The life-guarding job was only part time, he worked with two others and each took a four hour shift during the days the pool was open, which was every day except Sunday. Dash had sadly drawn the short straw for the first week and gotten stuck with the morning so now the blond teen had to sit there until noon when one of the others would come relieve him for the day. It wasn't so bad because he didn't have to actually do anything but he had been hoping to check out some people covertly, but at this rate he likely wasn't going to see many kids his age.

After sitting around for 30 minutes watching the pool water ripple Dash about fell asleep again when he heard some foot steps coming from the locker rooms. He jerked his head up and shook it to wake himself up in case it was his boss but settled down when he saw it was just some guy he couldn't recognize. He saw that the guy looked about his age, and had dark hair that was a little long but that didn't really narrow it down for him, a lot of guys had dark hair. He was pretty built too, not overly so but he had development that likely came from physical activity instead of just working out. He had all the signs and build of being a swimmer from the swim cap he put on his head, to the goggles, and down to the very tight shorts that hugged his waist and thighs to prevent drag.

Dash was a little surprised to see someone young there so early. He figured most kids would still be asleep enjoying being able to sleep in like he so wished he had been able to do today. By the looks of the guy though he seemed really dedicated to swimming as he got out a small watch and set it on the edge of the deep end. The young man situated his goggles and looked at his watch before he dove right into the chilly morning waters.

The young man swam quickly down the pool flipped around and started to swim back at an impressive speed. Dash watched with mild interest as he swam the length of the pool and back. He noticed at one point that he barely had come up for air through most of the length and had to admit to himself that the guy must be able to hold his breath for a long time. As the swimmer made it back to his starting point he pulled himself up and looked at his watch again for the time. A smile came to his face from what Dash assumed was a good time and watched the guy as he proceeded to repeat the procedure several more times over the next hour.

As the sun started to rise higher a few more people started to come to the pool. Mainly there were only a few early morning sunbathers and a couple of seniors who kept to the shallow end to swim about. Dash didn't pay too much attention to them but kept an ear out for any trouble as he continued to watch the young man swimming back and forth. Each time he made a lap he'd check his watch, get out, and either get a drink of water from a bag he had carried out or would dive back in.

Finally after swimming back and forth the young man got out of the water and went over to one of the lounge chairs that were around the pool and started to towel off. His chest was heaving from all the exertion of swimming for nearly two straight hours and Dash watched him closer still trying to figure out who this guy was without being too obvious about it.

When he took off his swim cap and started to dry his hair is when it finally hit him. The guy never seemed to brush his hair and always wore it sloppily like he just toweled it off without a care.

"Fenton?" Dash called out forgetting for a moment that everyone around him was being quiet and now looking at him because of his sudden outburst.

"Dash?" Danny looked up and finally took notice that the blond lifeguard was actually Dash Baxter, his resident pain in the butt who had been bullying him off and on for the last couple years.

"What are you doing here?" The young raven haired man walked over to look up at Dash sitting in the life guarding chair.

"Me? I'm working here. What are you doing here? And since when are you such a great swimmer?"

Danny looked away with a grunt of annoyance, "I'm doing drills. I joined the swim team at school since I've always been pretty good at it. I figure maybe I can get a scholarship if I work a bit more at it. But you're the lifeguard here?"

"Just part time, I got stuck with the morning shift this week," Dash looked over the smaller teen for a moment. He hadn't been much of a bully or paying much attention to Danny over their junior year because he had been trying to focus more on his future, but he never would have imagined that the shrimp he had beaten on would have gotten so muscular. He had to admit that he was impressed with the guy.

"Well… I guess I'll be seeing you around then this week," Danny looked at him a bit nervously. To him Dash was still a bully in his eyes and being around him made him nervous.

"Yeah, I guess so. Why are you coming here so early though? Most people stop by in the afternoon or evening when the water is warmer."

"The cold really doesn't bother me too much," Danny shrugged and looked back at where he had left his bag, "I gotta get on home and get some lunch though. Uhh… Have a nice shift I guess."

With that Danny started to walk away and Dash watched him leave. He had to shake his head away when he noticed that he had been staring at his retreating form for longer than he should have.

"Geeze, what is wrong with me." Dash muttered to himself before he cast one last look at Danny slipping on a shirt and walking away. He took one last moment to watch him before he cast his eyes back out to the pool and waited for his shift to be over.


	2. Lonely Days

"Of all the dumb luck," Danny muttered to himself as he walked back towards his house. He had been hoping to just enjoy his time at the pool with no one he knew to see him. It wasn't that he was ashamed to be seen by anyone. On the contrary Danny was actually happy to have finally hit puberty and put on some height and muscle over the last year. He had filled out a decent bit and considered himself a good build which likely came from all the ghost hunting and running around he did all the time.

He walked along the sidewalk in his swimsuit and sandals mulling over the fact that the best time for him to enjoy his swimming alone was going to be under the watch of Dash. He liked to swim in the morning, the water was still cool and there were rarely a lot of people there so he pretty much had the whole pool to himself. Still, the thought that his bully would be there made him feel uncomfortable and annoyed. Sure he hadn't been bullied that much since the start of this year but all the memories of when Dash had shoved him into a locker, stolen his clothes in gym, and pulled various pranks on him that got him in trouble with their teachers were still fresh in his mind making it hard to be comfortable around the jock.

"Ehh whatever, so long as he doesn't pull anything I can survive a week with him. Hopefully he won't have the morning shift next week and I won't see him again until school starts in fall." Danny sighed and looked around as he walked up to his house. He didn't see anyone out so he just walked down the alley beside Fenton Works and phased himself through the walls and into the basement where he had last seen his parents.

As he expected he saw the two of them right where they had been a few hours earlier, tinkering with equipment and weapons that they had built to fight off ghosts. He had finally told his parents about his secret last fall after he had to face off a very powerful Vortex who tried to destroy the town again with hurricanes, hail storms, and several powerful lightning storms. His parents had been shocked to learn that their son was the ghost boy that the town had claimed to be their hero and who they had tried to capture to dissect at various points but put that aside to help him defeat the weather ghost. Afterwards they had had a long talk about everything Danny had been through. While disappointed that he hadn't trusted them with his secret, they understood why he had kept it and told them they were proud of all that he had done. Once he explained everything that happened they realized that some of what Phantom had been blamed for wasn't totally his fault and from that point things progressed relatively smoothly.

"Hey guys." Danny floated down to the floor and landed behind them, "Please tell me you have at least gone and gotten something to eat since I've been gone."

Danny loved his parents, but they had a very bad habit of getting too absorbed in their work and not eating or not eating well in his dad's case.

"Oh hey, Danny! Yeah we got a bit of breakfast awhile ago. How was your swim? And come look at what we've got going on here!"

"It was good, dad, managed to shave 3 seconds off my best time. What are you guys working on though? And you know doughnuts and coffee are not considered breakfast," he frowned as he saw a few mugs of coffee and a box of doughnuts off on an otherwise empty table and went to see what his parents were working on.

"Hi, sweetie," Maddie kissed him on the cheek as he stared at what looked a lot like a samurai sword, "That's great about your time, and this is something really special that we've been working on ever since you introduced us to your friend Wulf."

'Introduced' wasn't the word Danny would use for that little mishap. Wulf had come to Danny when Walker had been trying to catch him again and needed his help. Long story short he had to beat Walker again and send him back to his jail. The problem came from Wulf opening up a portal right over their dinner table right as they were eating, greatly injured and it took a great deal of effort from Danny to convince his parents that Wulf was a friend.

"You guys made some kind of sword?" Danny's brow raised as he reached out to poke at it.

"Not just any sword, Danny my-boy!" Jack picked the sheathed sword up and pulled it out to reveal a slightly green blade that had a wave of energy flowing along the edge, "We call it the Space Shredder! Based on what we saw your furry friend do, we thought up a way to open up portals between the ghost Zone and our world from any place. You know, in case you need to send a ghost back to the ghost zone and don't have the thermos, or if you're stuck in the ghost zone and need a quick escape back to the real world."

"Cool. Can I try it out?" Danny had to admit that while most of the weapons his parents came up with were sometimes big, bulky, or silly the idea of a sword that could cut a path between the ghost and human worlds was pretty cool.

"Not yet, sweetie, we've still got a lot of calculations to run through before we're ready to give it a try. We know what it should do and theoretically it should work, but theory and fact are two completely different things."

"Aww…" Both Danny and Jack looked disappointed at hearing that. Both men wanted to try out the sword, but when Maddie said no there was no room for argument.

"Fine, I guess I'll just go fix us up some lunch then. I'll call you guys when it's ready."

They said thanks and Danny made his way up to the kitchen. Over the years both Danny and his sister had learned how to cook and fend for themselves. It wasn't that their parents were neglectful of them or anything. It had more to do with the fact that neither of them could cook and sometimes they'd mix their food with one of their experiments and create a monster of a meal that tended to end up splattered all over the kitchen and with take out in front of the TV.

Danny had admittedly learned to cook a lot better from the Lunch Lady after a few fights. She had never really been angry at him and when she showed up one day unexpectedly when Danny was trying to make a lasagna she helped him. She later admitted after he had put the dish in the oven that she had been more mad at Sam for changing the lunch menu and really never had much of a grudge against Danny.

That thought made Danny pause as he stood in front of the open fridge to find something to fix. It had been 4 months since she had moved across the country and the impact of losing one of his best friends was still weighing heavily on his heart. None of them really had wanted to move, but her grandmother's health had been declining over the last few years and the warm air of Florida was a lot nicer during the winter than the cold winters they had up here. Sam, though, still ever the Goth, hated all the sun, but didn't mind the walks along the moonlit beach she could now enjoy.

Thinking about Sam though got, Danny thinking about Tucker as he reached for some ham to make sandwiches with. Tucker had gotten early acceptance to a prestigious college out in California and had accepted it as soon as their Junior year was over. Tucker was hesitant to take the offer knowing that he'd be leaving his best friend all alone, but Danny assured him that he was ok with it and that they could always video chat online.

"Besides," Danny remembered saying to Tucker to convince his friend to go, "I'm going to be really busy with the swim team and trying to boost my grades a bit so I can get into a good school."

Even though he was happy for his friend he was still lonely. Besides Tucker and Sam he really didn't have any real friends and so he tended to spend most of his time alone or going out on patrol, even though ghost activity had declined in the last year. Either way though with his senior year coming up, Danny wasn't really looking forward to it as much as most other kids were.

"Ehh who knows," Danny sighed as he finished making a few sandwiches for him and his parents and grabbed a few bottles of water and a bag of chips, "Maybe I'll be able to make a new friend soon."

Danny shook his head to clear away the brooding thoughts he was harboring as he walked back downstairs. He didn't want his parents to worry about him or see him upset. He just had to keep positive and hope for the best.


	3. Friendly Calls

Dash sighed as he walked back to his house after a boring morning as a lifeguard. He didn't want people to fall and nearly drown so he could do something but he had been hoping that someone attractive near his age had shown up before he left. Fenton had been the only person his age that was at the pool, and while he was easy on the eyes, Dash wouldn't let himself think more on it.

"Snap out of it, Dash, you can't be having these thoughts! What's the matter with you? You're a guy, you need to like girls." Dash groaned and opened the door to his house and walked right up to his room to fall back into his bed. His parents were working and so he had the house to himself until they came back home around five o'clock. The thoughts about Fenton though slicing through the water though would not leave his mind as he tossed about on his bed trying to take a nap.

"Of all the times my best friend had to go out of town." Dash groaned with annoyance. He needed something to take his mind off of things and Kwan was off with his family visiting relatives for a couple weeks. Even Paulina was off on some cruise with her family enjoying the warmth of some ocean or sea for the next month or so. He could try to call up one of his other football buddies but he didn't feel like that. He kept on thinking about Fenton and how much he had changed since they were freshmen.

At the beginning of their freshmen year, Danny had been scrawny and short. He was an easy target and fun to rough up a bit. Dash never went too far with his bullying but that didn't stop him from making his life miserable from time to time. Looking back on it all and all that he'd done, Dash started to feel like a heel. He didn't know why he treated Fenton so badly but there was just something about him that made him want to act aggressively towards him.

"Great… I go from having weird thoughts about Fenton to feeling guilty about what I did to him!" Dash groaned into a pillow before he jerked up out of his bed. He needed to focus on something otherwise he was going to go crazy. He stripped out of his life guard uniform and put on some gym shorts and an old t-shirt before he went downstairs to their basement where Dash's father had set up a small gym. It wasn't a whole lot, mainly free weights, a couple benches, and a few other things, but what held Dash's interest at this point was a large broken in punching bag that he had been taking his aggression out on for years.

He wrapped his hands and wrists up with the cloth hand wraps he had and went about punching the old bag. He held his fists up as he bounced about on the balls of his feet before he let into the bag with a series of jabs before he'd bounce right back. Dash had taken boxing lessons when he was younger and while never got in the ring to fight he did like all the exercise and kept at it years later.

He bobbed and punched at the bag as if it were a real person he was sparing against laying punch after punch into it. Before he knew it he had worked up quite a sweat and had to stop to take a breather. He was drenched now as he sat on a bench and took a drink from a bottle of water he had brought down. The feelings of exerting so much energy felt good to the blond man as he sat there trying to catch his breath. He didn't get to feel this way too often except when he was playing sports and with it being summer he wouldn't get a chance to play until football started up in the fall again.

As if on cue, Dash heard his phone start to ring and he saw Kwan's name pop up as the ID. He smiled a bit to himself as he answered the phone, still breathing really hard.

"Hey, man, how's California treating you?"

"Ehh, it's fine. Haven't really seen much besides my grandparents' house out in the middle of nowhere, but it's got a lot of nice scenery. What's up with you though, I catch you at a bad time?" Kwan chuckled, "Or did I catch you during a good time?"

"Oh shut up, I was just working out on the punching bag and stopped for a rest when you called. I had a really boring morning at the pool and needed to burn off some energy."

"Oh yeah, today was your first day lifeguarding," Another soft chuckle came from Kwan and Dash could already tell he wasn't going to like what he said next, "Rescue any babes today? Give anyone mouth to mouth?"

Dash groaned at the kissy noises his friend made but shrugged it off, "No, no one really comes to the pool in the early morning. Mainly it was just some old folks doing some exercise in the pool. A few people sunbathing in the early sun before it got to hot, and some people who just swam about. Like I said it was boring, and the only person there that was our age was Fenton."

"Fenton?" Dash groaned and mentally kicked himself at mentioning him again. He had just gotten the guy out of his mind and he just had to go and bring that up again.

"Uh… Yeah, dude's on the swim team it seems. Was pretty good to, swam back and forth for about two hours before calling it quits."

"I guess all that running away from you our first few years of high school really got him in good shape."

"Yeah, I guess…" Dash looked up at the ceiling unsure of what else to say. Fenton really did seem to have a lot of stamina and it actually surprised him that the guy wasn't a part of the track and field team.

"Earth to Dash… You still there man?"

"Huh, oh yeah sorry, just was spacing out I guess. Need to get some lunch or something in me, and maybe find something to do for the rest of the day."

"Could always just draw more of those comics I've seen you do."

Dash grumbled at hearing that. He had been drawing for years and as he got older he found himself often drawing silly little comics with jokes that were mildly funny. The last few years though he had been refining his skills into drawing comics of his favorite hero and protector of their town Danny Phantom. He always felt embarrassed though about anyone knowing about his work, and Kwan often liked to tease him about it even though he thought they were quite good. He even was able to create some pretty good action scenes in Kwan's opinion.

"C'mon, man, you gotta stop thinking that your drawing is nothing special. It's seriously awesome and I think you should show some more people. I mean that one comic you made of Phantom and the Ghost Snakes? That one alone was better than half the comics I've seen."

"Ehh… maybe I will draw or something, not like I've got anything better to do with my best friend gone for the summer." He smirked teasing his friend.

"Oh please, I'll be back in a few weeks and we can hang out as much as you want assuming you don't rescue a girl at the pool and fall in love," Kwan laughed and Dash heard someone speaking in a foreign language in the background.

"Coming, Mei-maw! Listen, man, I gotta go. I'll call ya later this evening though for a real chat and I'll tell you about a few things I found out here. See ya."

Dash said goodbye and hung up his phone leaving him in the quiet basement with only his thoughts. He sighed to himself feeling lonely again and went back upstairs to his room to grab the sketch book he used to get his ideas on what to draw out of his head. Maybe Kwan had the right idea, he grabbed a pencil and eraser and walked back down to the kitchen to pop something in the microwave to eat. He'd draw a bit and maybe plan a new comic and maybe go rent a video to watch later.

"Maybe this time I'll have Phantom face some kind of ghost bat that lives in a cave." Dash smiled to himself as he started to sketch out Phantom and a few bats as he waited for his lunch to heat up.


	4. A Muggy Evening

The sounds of metal clanking and parts whirring filled the air of the garage as Danny worked on a motorcycle he had been building. He found out after he spent some time with his dad working on improving the Fenton Assault Vehicle that he liked to work with motors. After looking into a few things he decided that he wanted to try to build himself a motorcycle. His mother was a bit apprehensive about the idea but thankfully his dad was able to talk her into it. The only conditions being that he would have to buy any parts that he needed himself and that he couldn't ride it until they were positive it was safe.

This lead to a lot of time spent in the garage with Danny trying to get things in place, figuring out what kind of parts he needed, and working on the design. As the young half ghost worked on soldering a few pieces together he felt the familiar chill of his ghost sense escape his mouth and a familiar presence behind him. Taking off his work glasses he let out a tired sigh already knowing who was behind him without even having to look.

"What are you doing here, Johnny? Did you and Kitty get into it again?" Danny turned around from where he was working to look at the bad luck biker ghost looking over the frame of his bike.

"Nah, man, me and Kitty are cool. Just came out to see how your bike's going and check out the movie schedule for this week. Thought I'd take Kitty to one of those romance films she likes since she's been putting up with me ranting about my bike being thrashed again by some crazy new spooks in our area." Johnny looked the bike over for a bit in admiration and approval, "She's lookin' good, squirt, pretty soon you'll have her up and running and maybe we can drag race in the ghost zone."

Danny glared at Johnny's smiling face, "You know I've grown a lot these last few years. I'm only an inch or two shorter than you now."

"Which means you're almost not a squirt anymore, 'squirt'," Johnny laughed at the annoyed look on the half ghost's face.

"Ehh whatever. You guys can go to the movies if you want, just don't cause any trouble," Danny started to turn back around when he stopped and looked back at the biker, "What was that about new spooks in your area?"

"Huh?" Johnny looked up from examining a piece of a muffler, "Oh that? Ehh, it's nothing; just something that happens sometimes. One ghost will get the need for more room and chase off some of the weaker ones and they'll fly off to find a new place. I doubt it's anything that'll be a problem."

"Well, ok. Just keep me posted if things get bad. I might be able to help if someone tries to start trouble again."

"Heh, always trying to be a hero, huh, squirt?" Johnny reached over and ruffled his shaggy black hair.

"Someone's gotta keep that crazy place you call a home in some semblance of order," Danny smirked as he straightened his hair back out and tied it back into a low pony tail, "Otherwise you guys come here and cause havoc for all of us."

"Right," Johnny smiled as he started to float up to the ceiling of the garage, "Well good luck with the bike, kid, and I'll see ya later."

Danny watched as the ghost floated away and sighed. He had no idea how he had managed to make friends with so many ghosts over the years but he was glad that they didn't attack him anymore. It gave him a break for the most part from hostile ghost attacks. Still though there were ghosts like Spectra, Walker, Undergrowth, and Vortex that loved to cause him trouble.

"Ehh enough of this crud for now." Danny grunted and set his equipment down. He looked to the clock on the wall and saw that he had been working on his bike for over 3 hours now. It was no wonder that his eyes felt tired and as Danny got up and stretched he walked out of the garage to go find something else to distract him from his work for awhile. When he walked inside he found his parents lounging in the family room watching some movie on TV before they noticed him.

"Taking a break from working on your bike, sweetie?" Maddie looked up at her son with a smile as he walked towards the stairs to go up to his room.

"Yeah mom, I think I'm going to go look at some of those books I got on motors and bikes for a bit to see if I can get some more ideas." He started to walk up the stairs to his room when he was stopped.

"Danny, you've spent all afternoon working on that bike of yours, you need to take a break from it all," Maddie looked up at him with some concern in her eyes, "Why don't you go out and rent us a movie to watch together. We can spend some time together and enjoy a nice peaceful evening."

"But I still have to go out and patrol later."

"You can do that after we watch a movie together, now off with you." Danny sighed a bit and turned right around to head out the door.

"And I'll get the ice cream!" Jack spoke up as he stood and headed to the kitchen.

"Oh no!" Danny pointed a finger at his father accusingly, "You are not allowed to touch my ice cream. The last time I let you at it you ate it all before I could even get a bite and it was my favorite strawberry and lime recipe, so no you can't get it. I'll fix us up a bowl along with some popcorn when I get back, now any movie requests?"

"Anything's fine dear, just nothing too graphic," Maddie smiled as Jack came back to the couch pouting about not getting to eat any of the ice cream Danny had made. As well as having learned how to cook over the years, Danny had also picked up on how to make other things like ice cream. With his ice powers he was able to make it in such a way that no one else could mimic. This also allowed him to experiment with new flavors and combinations that his friends and family loved to try.

As Danny walked along the sidewalks he thought back to his friends. It had been a few days since he had heard anything from them and wondered what they were up to. Tucker was likely busy getting settled in, and Sam was likely still unpacking but it still would have been nice to hear from them soon.

As he reached the video store he thought about what movie to get. There were a few horror flicks he had been wanting to see, but he doubted his parents would want to watch a bunch of people get hacked up to pieces. He walked through the aisles looking for something decent to get and found a few choices but ultimately settled on an action hero movie that he had missed seeing earlier in the year.

After he paid for the movie Danny started to walk home just minding his own business when he started to hear some grunts coming from an alley. When he got closer he saw a bunch of guys ganging up on someone.

"Just hand over your wallet, pretty boy, and we'll forget about you trespassin' on our turf here." Danny growled to himself. There were six guys trying to mug someone. Normally Danny didn't get involved in petty crimes like this, having too much to do keeping ghosts from attacking people, but he could easily help scare these guys off.

"HEY!" Danny shouted at the muggers and ran right at the nearest one and punched him as hard as he could in the side of the face. He sent the mugger flying to the ground with a thud leaving the last five to stare at the guy who had just butted into their business.

"Fenton?!" Danny looked over and saw that Dash was standing against the wall looking a bit roughed up but not injured, yet.

"Dash?" The two young men stared at each other for a moment before a growl from one of the attackers brought their attention back towards the threat at hand. Danny ducked under one of the guys trying to throw a punch at him and he followed up by shoving his elbow into the man's stomach and then spinning around and knocking his legs out from under him. The thug fell flat on his back right as another of the thugs fell on him.

Danny looked up to see Dash had both his fists up and was almost bouncing as he threw a barrage of punches to one of the remaining thugs. The poor punk hit the opposing wall with a grunt and slid down to the dirty ground as another charged at the blond. Dash ducked under the poorly thrown punch and jumped up to deliver a powerful uppercut with his right fist.

The remaining two gangsters, seeing that they were clearly outmatched, decided as their fourth member fell to run away leaving the two teens to stand victoriously. Danny scoffed at the men as they ran away before he reached into his pocket to get his phone. The guys acted all big and tough in a group but were nothing special.

"Cowards."

Danny turned around as he dialed 911 to see Dash standing there with an angry frown painted across his face.

"Yeah I know, but what can ya do?" Danny shrugged and once the operator picked up, Danny quickly told her that there had been an attempted mugging at their location. After getting a few details she told them that she was sending a police officer and to stay there.

After a few minutes of waiting around quietly Danny finally looked over at Dash for any sign of injury, "You ok? These guys didn't hurt you or anything did they?"

"Nah I just got a bit roughed up is all," Dash tried to straighten out his shirt when he looked over at Danny and tilted his head, "Where did you learn how to fight like that? I mean no offense and all and thanks for helping me out, but you always were sort of a wimp at school."

"My mom's a black belt in like three martial arts, and despite his goofy exterior my dad is a capable marksman, and I come from a family that builds weapons to hunt ghosts," Danny shrugged feeling a bit off at hearing Dash talk to him like that, "My mom's been training me in hand to hand combat the last year, though. Nothing much but enough to take out idiots like this I guess."

"Yeah…" Dash looked at him and then looked around as an awkward silence befell the two. Before either of them could think of anything more to say, though, a squad car pulled up to save them from having to make small talk. The policemen who got out arrested the would-be muggers and took the statements of the two teens before driving off with them in tow.

"Well… that was an event." Danny sighed and looked Dash over again feeling more awkward the more he was around his former bully, "You want me to walk you home or anything? I mean I know the odds are slim and all but I wouldn't want you to get mugged again." Danny gave a forced chuckle trying to make light of the mood.

"I don't need your help, Fenton. I can get home fine on my own." Dash grunted and a slight blush came to his cheeks making Danny think that he might have accidentally insulted the man.

"I'm sorry!" Despite his growth spurt and being only an inch shorter than the man now, Danny still felt like he did back in their freshman year. "I didn't mean to imply anything, I just thought, safety in numbers and all that."

"Yeah, well…," Dash playfully punched his shoulder and gave a huff, "If anyone needs to be walked home, it's you. Training or not you're still a bit of a shrimp."

Danny rolled his eyes at the smirk the jock gave him and started to walk back to his house, "Whatever, Dash, I've got to get going."

He didn't make it three steps before he felt a hand on grab his shoulder. Danny quickly turned around thinking he was being attacked but stopped when he saw it was Dash. He didn't look the shorter man in the face for a moment and just as Danny was about to ask what he wanted Dash spoke up.

"Thanks for… Ya know… helping me out there. You didn't have to do that, and after all I've put you through over the years I don't know why you would have… but thanks."

"Don't mention it," Danny gave him a small smile, "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Tomorrow?"

"Uh… yeah I plan on going swimming every morning that I can this summer. I want to keep training so I'll do well on the swim team."

"Oh, yeah right… Okay. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then." Dash shrugged and started to walk off with a bag in his hands leaving Danny behind to stare as he walked away. It was interesting that something like that had happened and it had pushed him and Dash into a situation where they had to fight together.

As Danny made it up the steps to his house he thought more about how Dash was acting. It was weird that he had thanked him and was even weirder how he had fought. Dash had shoved and punched him for years but he had never actually hit him like that and now that he thought about it, Dash had really never hit him too terribly hard before.

Shoving those thoughts to the side though, he walked into the living room and saw his mother reading a book and his dad nowhere in sight.

"Hey mom."

"Oh there you are Danny," Maddie placed her book onto a side table and looked up at him, "You were gone an awfully long time, did something happen?"

"Ehh nothing I can't handle, just had to stop some punks from mugging this guy I know from school." Danny shrugged like it was no big deal.

"You had to stop a mugging, or Phantom had to stop a mugging?" Maddie looked him over and took his face in her hand to check for any bruising. He may have grown a few inches and been taller than her but he was still her little boy and she was still his mother.

"I stepped in as myself this time," Danny sighed and tried to get away from the hands, "I didn't have time to find a place to change and I'm fine mom. Geeze, you taught me enough about fighting so that I can handle myself and they were just punks that used their numbers to their advantage. Only reason it took so long was because I called the police and had to wait around for them."

"Well alright, dear, but you can't blame a mother for worrying. I just want to make sure you're ok." Danny smiled and nodded in understanding before she pat him on the cheek and went back to sit on the couch, "So what movie did you decide on?"

"I got that action hero movie from earlier this year. I never got a chance to see it in theaters and thought now's as good a time as any to watch it," Danny looked around for a moment noticing a very big something missing, "Hey, where's dad?"

"Hmm?" Maddie looked around like she was just now noticing that he was gone, "Well I guess he went to get something to eat from the kitchen. We weren't expecting you to be gone for this long."

"Yeah, sorry, but like they say a hero's work is never-Wait! Kitchen?" Danny growled and stomped towards the kitchen knowing full well what he was going to find there.

"Dad!" Danny yelled as he saw his father standing in front of the freezer with the vat of ice cream he had made in one hand and a spoon in another. Danny knew he couldn't trust his father with anything he made but at least he had the decency to look guilty about digging into it.

"Oh Jack…" Maddie sighed as she walked in behind her son, "Did you at least leave any for the rest of us?"

Jack looked embarrassed as he looked into the container and showed that there was still a little left at the bottom. Danny just sighed and took the container from his dad and gave it to his mom.

"I'll make some more for us mom, but you dad are going on a diet." Danny pointed a finger at him as he walked to the fridge to gather up the ingredients.

"Aww… but the ice cream is so good!" Jack pouted as Maddie pushed him out to the living room to set up the DVD. Danny just held back the laugh at the image of his father pouting as he got everything together. It wasn't too big a hassle for him and as he changed into his ghost form he flew around the kitchen to get everything before he floated out to the living room to mix everything into a new container. Once it was mixed he then sat down and slowly froze it with his ice powers as he watched the movie. From there the evening would just drift on by leaving the memory of what had happened in that alley way a distant memory.


	5. Learning Something New

Tuesday didn't start off that well for Dash. He woke up later than he intended having stayed up late to work on some sketches, and didn't have time to really grab more than a toaster pastry for his breakfast. The next thing that happened was that his car wouldn't crank this morning so he had to ride his bike to work which put him further behind his routine. Now sitting in the lifeguard chair he wished he hadn't killed himself trying to get to the pool on time. The morning was thick with clouds and it didn't look like the sun was going to come out any time soon so no one was even there. Even though the pool was empty, though, he still had to sit there on the hard white chair and keep watch should anyone come.

"Geeze… No one's gonna come when it's this cloudy out. I bet even Fenton is staying home or going for a run or whatever it is he'd do to train." Dash grumbled thinking about Danny again. The way the guy fought last night had been really impressive and he wondered just how long he had been learning that stuff. Needless to say the guy he had been picking on over the last few years was remarkably stronger than he had let on.

Thinking more on it, Dash started to wonder why he had ever even started to pick on the guy. Sure he had hung out with that weird Goth chick who made everyone roll their eyes at her overly opinionated self and that techno geek who thought he was God's gift to women and had all the right moves, but Fenton was just another story all together. Sure he was a bit clumsy and awkward over the years, and his parents were freaks who hunted ghosts but the way he stepped up to help his bully made him reevaluate things. Manson wouldn't have done something like that, and Foley wouldn't have been likely to help much as anything other than a distraction. Fenton though didn't seem to hesitate. He jumped right into that fight even though he was outnumbered and that thought kept on circling around his head. Why would Fenton do something so reckless? It was like he acted on some crazy impulse or instinct and the more Dash thought about it, the less it made sense.

The blond just sat there for a moment staring at the pool so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize that he had fallen asleep until he heard a splash. He straightened up and looked around to see that familiar shape from yesterday glide through the water like a fish. Dash watched him as he swam again pushing himself as hard as he could to reach the other side of the pool, shove off, and shoot back towards the other end. He still found it crazy that Fenton could be such a good swimmer when he had never known the guy to be athletic in any way at all.

'Then again,' he thought, 'I've never seen the guy swim. Maybe he was always a good swimmer and I just never got a chance to see him.'

Dash watched him swim for another two hours before the guy got out to rest. Instead of just walking off though he pulled out a towel from his bag and laid it across a lounge chair to lie down. Dash turned to watch him for a moment, having nothing better to do and just sighed. Fenton just laid there with a contented look on his face like he was enjoying the cool morning air and being soaked. It was actually a little funny to see him look so serene, Dash had never seen him look like that before.

As Dash had thought, no one came to the pool the entire morning but Fenton and after his shift was over and the next lifeguard came to take his place for the next four hours he went over to check on the sleeping boy. He had dried off over an hour ago but had just continued to lay there asleep and dead to the world. He looked down at other teen for a second before nudging him.

"Huzzah?" Danny blinked awake and sat up rubbing at his eyes as they fell onto the blond before him, "Dash? What's going on why'd you wake me up?"

"Well for starters: you've been asleep for awhile now and my shift ended. If you're so tired you should head on home to get some rest." A sudden rumbling from Dash's stomach caused a blush to come to the jock's face and Fenton to look down in surprise, "And I should get home to get some decent food in my gut."

"Well uh…," Dash watched for a moment as Fenton rummaged through his bag and pulled out a banana. He split it in half and then offered the top part to Dash, "Here, I'm going home anyway so you can have half of this if you're hungry."

"Uh… Thanks," Dash took the offered half and ate it quickly, "Man, that hits the spot. You headin' home I guess then?"

"Yeah, I should get home, get some more work done and find some stuff to do I guess," Dash watched as the raven haired teen started to pack up his stuff and fidgeted uncomfortably under his gaze.

"I guess I'll see ya tomorrow then."

"Yeah," Danny chuckled, "Unless you get mugged and I have to help save you again."

"I could have handled those guys myself even without you." Dash grunted and felt a pang of regret stab at how much harsher that sounded than he had meant it to.

"Yeah, still couldn't let them gang up on you like that. Wasn't fair." Dash just muttered in agreement before Fenton stood up with his bag over his shoulder and started to walk off with Dash following him to his bike.

When they got out to the parking lot, Fenton noticed that Dash was unlocking a bike from a post that it was against, "I thought you had a car?"

"I do," Dash turned around with a look of mild annoyance on his face, "But it wouldn't start this morning and I didn't have time to see what was wrong with it so I had to ride my bike today."

"That's too bad; want me to take a look at it?"

"You?" Dash looked back at Fenton with a look of amazement, "What do you know about car engines or anything mechanical?"

"My parents are inventors and built an RV from scratch before for starters."

"You mean that ridiculous tank looking thing they're always driving around town at like 90 miles an hour when they're trying to catch a ghost?" Dash couldn't help but poke fun at Fenton and smirked when he saw a slight blush come to the young man's cheeks.

"They haven't done that in ages I'll have you know, but yes, they built that from scratch and after helping them work on it a bunch I started to get into engines and learning about how to fix cars and build things. I'm even in the process of building my own bike."

Dash stood up from his bike chain and looked at Fenton with a curious eye, "Now when you say 'bike'…?" He looked at his own simple bicycle and then back to the teen before him.

"I mean an actual motorcycle," he smirked with a bit of pride and stuck out his chest ever so slightly.

"It's actually going slowly because I can't think up a design yet, but I'll figure something out. Anyway you want me to come over and look at your car?"

"Uh… yeah sure you can come over right now if you want; my parents are at work so it's just me."

He just nodded and started to walk along the pavement next to Dash. An uneasy silence filled the air between them as they walked along. Dash didn't know why this was happening, he didn't know why this guy who he had labeled as a loser for so many years, shoved into lockers, and pulled countless pranks on was willing to help him. He also couldn't help looking over at him every so often to see how much he had changed without realizing it.

The guy really had changed over the years. He had let his hair grow out a bit and he currently had it pulled back into a pony tail and he had really shot up too. Dash still remembered their freshman year when the guy was nearly a foot shorter than him and now he was only about an inch or so from being the same height and he had grown a few more inches over the years himself. The guy had also filled out some gaining muscle mass and if what he saw last night was any indication Dash felt that if he actually tried to pick a fight with the guy he wouldn't find it as easy as he would have a few years ago.

Once they finally reached the Baxter residence Dash lead them to the garage where his vehicle was parked. It wasn't anything too special, just a normal car that was a few years old but was in pretty good condition. Today was actually the first time Dash had ever had any kinds of problems with it and if he had had more time he might have popped the hood himself to look inside.

"Nice car," Fenton looked it over and went to the hood of the car, "Pop the hood up and I'll see if I can tell what's wrong."

Dash just shrugged his shoulders and did as he was told. The keys were still inside since it was safe inside the garage and with a press of the button the hood was unlocked and Fenton had it raised up to look inside.

"Ha! Found the problem!" Dash hadn't even managed to get out of the car before Fenton said that.

"What? How'd you figure that out so fast?"

"Like I said I've been tinkering around cars for awhile now, I can figure a few things out," he pulled out something from under the hood and smirked, "Lucky for you, it's just a dead spark plug. Doesn't cost much at all to replace. Just take that to the auto parts store a few blocks away and ask for a new one, then you can bring it back and install it. Simple."

"Uhh, thanks then I guess."

"Ehh it's nothing, I just like working on engines." Fenton smiled and then realized who he was talking to and cleared his throat feeling a bit uneasy again. He stood that way for a moment before he just started to walk towards the door, "Well I guess that's that. Glad to be of help and let me know if you have any more trouble and maybe I can come by again and help you out. I've got plenty of time."

"What about working on your bike?"

"Ehh until I can get a design I like in my head it's slow going. Once I figure out what I want it to look like though I'll be able to get it done a lot faster."

With that being said the teen left leaving Dash behind to wonder more about the guy he had thought he knew. Fenton had been a loser for years before but it seemed like there was so much more to him than he had initially thought.

"Maybe I should try to act nicer to the guy," Dash shook his head and shrugged, "Ehh whatever, first lunch and then question my life choices while I go get a spark plug."

Heading inside Dash made his way up to his room to change out of his swim suit and into some shorts and a simple t-shirt. Before heading back down he grabbed a sketch book and headed to the kitchen to make himself a sandwich. As he sat down with his ham and cheese and a bag of chips, Dash opened up his book to a blank page and found himself doodling designs for his comic for a few minutes before changing to drawing a motorcycle. He thought more about Fenton and what he was learning about him and for some reason the idea of the guy building his own bike really impressed him.

After he drew up a few basic components though, Dash decided that he didn't know what a motorcycle looked like well enough to draw one from memory. He closed his book and finished off his sandwich before he stashed the book back in his room.

"Maybe I'll try to draw a bike and see how I do." Dash didn't know why he wanted to do such a thing. He didn't plan on showing any of his drawings to anyone except Kwan, but still it would make for good practice, drawing something he had never drawn before.


	6. Of Gears and Pizza

The next few days went by easily for Danny. He got up, ate a decent breakfast, went to the pool, swam a few hours, came home, had some lunch, worked on his bike, did a few other things, had dinner, and then went on patrol for a bit before going to bed and repeating the whole cycle the next day. It was a comforting cycle that allowed the week to just pass by.

Danny didn't speak to Dash much after that second day. The blond would wave when he saw Danny and he'd wave back politely. It felt weird to Danny to be seeing Dash so often now and not being a victim of any pranks or him trying to shove him. If was weird, but he was quickly starting to get used to it.

It was Sunday now, and the young half ghost had decided to be like most teens his age and sleep in that day. The pool was closed on Sunday mornings anyway and Danny knew that he had to give his body a rest sometimes to prevent over training himself. After waking up late and enjoying a bowl of cereal Danny decided to spend more time on finishing the engine of his bike. He had most of it together and would be ready to start building the bike part once he had what he wanted it to look like straight in his head.

"Uhg…!" Danny looked up at the clock that hung on the wall and groaned again letting his head fall to the work bench he was assembling things, "I don't know why this is so HARD…! I've been working all morning!"

Shoving back on the table he sighed and packed things up for now. It was about time for lunch and he still needed to pick up a few parts from the auto store. Grabbing his wallet he headed out. It was a nice enough day, a bit overcast and windy but Danny liked the weather like that. Wasn't too hot, but was far from cold so it made the day comfortable enough to walk in.

Once he reached the auto store, Danny spent a few minutes looking around at various parts and pieces of engines and car accessories. Spark plugs, fuel lines, motor oil, light bulbs, hydraulic pumps; this store had everything you'd need to fix up your car and getting it running again. Ever since he had taken up this little project of his a few months ago Danny had been in this store enough to familiarize himself with every nook and cranny so that he could get in and get out as fast as he needed to. Not to say that he wanted to leave too fast sometimes, the owner of the store was a nice enough man and had helped Danny order a few special parts. He was also very helpful in his advice on how to build an engine and sometimes Danny would ask him questions about which things were best.

"Ahh Danny-boy!"

'And speak of the devil,' Danny thought happily as he saw Mr. Allen walked over to him.

"Hey, sir. Those parts I ordered come in yet?"

"They came in just yesterday my boy, come on and have a look, make sure it's all what you wanted." The man was in his early 40s with some slight grey to his brown hair and was the same height as Danny. Though he looked like he was getting on in years, with a bit of a bulge showing around the middle, the man was still youthful and full of energy when Danny talked to him and he always seemed to have a smile on his slightly tanned face.

Mr. Allen walked behind the counter and pulled out a few boxes of parts that Danny had ordered and allowed the boy to look them over. After opening up the boxes and checking each part he decided that they were all good and set about paying for them.

"So how's the building going, Danny? You got the engine about built by now surely?"

"Yes, sir, I've got the engine pretty much built. Now just have to work on the ignition and get the other things started," He let out a groan and rubbed at his face, "It would be much further along if I could just get an idea on what I wanted it to look like. I have a basic frame in mind but I can't decide on how I want everything put together."

"Well, kid, don't fret too much on it. It'll come to ya. In fact here," Mr. Allen reached around to the magazine stand that stood next to the check out and put a magazine on motorcycles into Danny's bag, "On the house. Maybe you'll get an idea from that and next time you'll come in you'll be ready to look at some paint and fenders."

"Thanks, Mr. Allen," Danny smiled and waved goodbye to the man as he left out of the store and started to head to a pizza place down the street. The Nasty Burger was still a good enough place to eat and hang out, but without Sam and Tucker around it was just too lonely. He really didn't know how he was going to manage this next year without anyone around to hang out with.

"Ehh maybe being the school loner will be better than being the loser everyone made me out to be." Danny sighed to himself and didn't notice as a door opened up right in his face, sending him stumbling back holding his head where he'd been hit.

"Oh, damn-it I'm so sorry I didn't see you- Fenton?" Danny looked up and saw Dash was the one who had opened the door that hit him. What surprised him more, though, was that Dash was walking out of an art store that sold all sorts of craft materials, frames, paints, and the like.

"Dash?" Danny rubbed at his head and once he made sure he wasn't bleeding tried to straighten himself out to not look any more pathetic than he had before, "What are you doing here?"

"I uhh…," he looked around embarrassed trying to find an excuse for coming out of an arts store when Danny looked down and saw he had a bag of colored pencils, some high quality markers, and some inking pens.

"I just needed to pick up a few things is all. Nothing special."

"You're into drawing?" Danny stared at Dash in pure shock. He had known the guy for years but he had never seen any sort of signs of artistic ability or leanings.

"Maybe…," a dark flush came to Dash's cheeks and he looked mildly insulted by the way Danny had said that, "What's it to you? I can like drawing if I want to."

"No, no, of course you can," Danny held up his hands in defense and surrender, "It's just… You never seemed like the type to draw or anything."

"Yeah well I'd have never pegged you for a gear head either, but you're building yourself a bike, aren't you?"

"Point." The half ghost nodded in defeat as another awkward silence fell over the two of them.

"So where's Foley and Manson?" Danny looked up at Dash who wouldn't meet his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothin'…," Dash shrugged, "Just figured what with it being summer and all you three would be hanging out all the time like always. Come to think about it I haven't seen Manson around you guys in ages. You break up or something?"

Danny groaned at that, despite people thinking he and Sam were together there were never any real feelings between the two of them. They were friends and they were almost like siblings with how close they were and any romantic ideas between the two of them were non-existent.

"We were never together, but she did move to Florida a couple months ago. Her grandmother wasn't doing so well so they moved with her to a warmer place. As for Tucker, before you ask, he got an early acceptance to a college in California and moved there."

"So you're like… all alone now?" Dash's voice sounded unsure and almost had a gentle tone to it. Like Dash could understand what it felt like to be alone or that he didn't want to actually upset him by bringing up the subject of losing his two best friends.

"Yeah, well don't rub it in." Danny growled and looked up into Dash's eyes and saw that they looked almost apologetic at hearing the news.

"Sorry, but yeah my best friends left so I don't have anyone to really hang out with this summer. Just as well, that leaves me plenty of time to do other things I guess." Danny held up his bag of parts to show just what other things he was doing.

"Well yeah, but still…" Dash looked around and rubbed at the back of his head like he was embarrassed about something now, "Well… I don't have anyone to really hang out with either this summer. Kwan's off visiting relatives this month and Paulina…" Dash shrugged, "Well she's still my friend and all but we're not as close as you and Manson seemed to be, and she's off on a cruise around Jamaica, Greece, or… I dunno could be a cruise around Easter Island for all I know."

"So…?" Danny looked at the blond before him, unsure of what he thought Dash was going to say was what he was thinking or not.

"Well, I know we haven't exactly been friends or anything, but if you want to hang out and maybe do something, well… Ya know having someone around is more fun than being alone."

"Yeah, I guess…" Danny looked around and sighed. This was all feeling very strange and unusual for him and the fact that his former bully was standing here before him asking to hang out just to have some company sounded almost beyond crazy to him.

"Well…," Danny sighed after a moment of silence had passed between them, "I was about to head to that new pizza place just down the road here."

"You mean Chester's Pizzeria?"

"Yeah you been there?"

"No, but I've heard some good things about it. They true?"

Danny chuckled and started to walk down the road, "Oh trust me, Dash, this place is great. Come on I'll treat you to a slice."

"You don't have to do that." Dash quietly protested as he walked along behind the slightly shorter teen.

Danny didn't know why he had offered himself, perhaps being alone was finally taking its toll on him and he was considering the jock's offer for companionship. Still the fact he was seeking such a thing from Dash was an odd thought to admit. Maybe it was just the fact that they were both friendless for now that drew them together. Danny didn't know what he expected from this, though; when Kwan came back Dash would go back to hanging out with his old time friend leaving him alone again.

"You ok, Fenton?" Dash looked at him with a weird look as they reached their destination.

'And there it is,' Danny thought as they walked inside, 'We're just going to be acquaintances and once Kwan's back he'll go back to hanging out with him and I'll just go back to being by myself again.'

"It's nothing," Danny put on a casual smile and found a table for them to sit at. He picked up the menu and tried to keep his face neutral about things.

Dash sat down across from him at the table and picked up a menu to look things over, "So what's good here? I've never been here and I'm pretty simple in tastes, just pepperoni and mushrooms are my faves."

"Oh you can order any kind of toppings for your pizza, but they do a lot of really nice specialty pizzas. They have a buffalo pizza with match stick carrots, celery, blue cheese, hot sauce, and chicken and the dough is made with some pretty tasty seasonings. Their taco pizza is pretty good, has some guacamole on it, pepper jack cheese, yellow cheese, and nacho chips. They have like 100 different ingredients, over a dozen cheeses, several dough types all depending on what you like. They even make dessert pizzas with sweet dough."

Danny smiled as he talked about the food. This place really was great and he and his parents had started to make it a tradition to stop by for a pizza once a week and every time they tried something new. Dash on the other hand looked like he was having a hard time deciding on what exactly he wanted.

"Geeze… they have oysters, strawberries, spinach, ricotta… what's tripe?"

"Uhh… You don't want to know," Danny smirked.

"Well… how about you just order us something then, cause I gotta be honest I have no idea what I want from all these choices." Dash scratched his blond hair with a slightly overwhelmed look on his face.

"Fair enough," Danny flagged down a waitress and after they ordered their drinks Danny ordered them both a personal sized buffalo pizza. After their order was placed another familiar silence that made Danny feel so tense. It was like Danny was still that small little shrimpy guy he was a few years ago instead of the teenager on the cusp of manhood. Compared to Dash though and all his big buff muscles and good looks Danny still felt those minor insecurities build up again and it was hard to think of something to talk about.

"So… How's that bike coming along?" Dash sat in front of him fiddling with the straw of his soda when the woman brought their drink orders.

"Slowly. I have the engine and everything together but I can't come up with a good design so I'm stuck with just the basic structure."

"Huh, that's a shame…" Dash reached into his bag and pulled out a sketch pad and a pencil.

"What are you doing?" Danny tried to lean over to see what Dash was doing but couldn't get a clear view.

"Well you already know my little secret so I thought while we were waiting for our pizzas I'd practice some drawings. You talking about that bike of yours actually got me wanting to draw more cars and vehicles. Never really had a reason to, so thought I might get some practice in."

"You're really into drawing aren't you?" Danny still couldn't get that little tidbit out of his head when he had first heard it.

"Yeah… though I'm not really that great or anything, I sorta suck at whatever I draw but at least it looks partially decent." The way Dash's voice sounded was different from how Danny always had heard it. Looking up he saw an insecure teenager sitting across from him instead of the brash, loud, and confident jock that he had known for years. It was hard to imagine such a strong guy like Dash being so shy and insecure about something, but here he was trying to do something that he was already so certain wouldn't look good before he even finished it.

"Can I see?"

"What?" Dash looked up and Danny simply pointed at the sketch book he was holding.

"Can I see some of your sketches?" Danny was actually a little curious to see what kind of artistic ability Dash had. He never had any real artistic ability himself so he might not be the best judge of talent, but he knew what he liked and that was good enough for him.

"I guess…" Dash hugged his book to him before he handed it over to the raven haired teen, "But if you laugh I'll pound you, Fenton! No one besides Kwan even knows I do this sorta stuff so you best keep it under wraps!"

"I promise, Dash, I'm pretty good at keeping secrets so you don't have to worry about that." He took the book with a comforting smile and opened it up to the page he had been working on. On the page were fairly crude but impressive sketches of parts of a motorcycle from different angles.

Danny flipped through a few pages looking at each new drawing with a critical eye. Dash had actually drawn some pretty impressive bikes and he was impressed with some of the details he included. Sure they were rough and unfinished but they had a great deal of potential.

"Dash these are pretty good," Danny kept flipping through the book until he came to a page that was full of bats and he stopped and stared at the drawings of bat faces, wing structures, and profiles.

"Uhh… What's with the bats?" Danny looked up and a blush quickly fell over Dash's face as he reached over to yank the sketch book out of his hands.

"Nothing!" Dash shoved his book back into his bag and that only made Danny more curious but he wouldn't pry more, lest he get beat up again by his former bully.

"Well they were well drawn too. All of it was well drawn," Danny chuckled as an idea tickled his brain, "Heh, maybe I should show you my bike and maybe you can draw me up a design to work from."

The raven haired teen had said it as a joke, he had meant it as a joke, but apparently the joke was lost on Dash, "Sure I could likely come up with a design for you. Would be good practice anyway."

The blond shrugged like it was no big deal and Danny could only stare in amazement that he was willing to do that. It seemed surreal that Dash Baxter, the resident school all-star jock and bully would be willing to do him a favor. Then again the whole situation about hanging out with him was also strange to him.

Before Danny could question why he was acting like this, their pizzas were brought to them. Danny smiled at the plate before him and started to dig right into the hot cheesy goodness that it was. Normally most people wouldn't be able to handle the extreme temperatures of the oven fresh pizza, but with a bit of ice powers Danny could cool his food to a bearable temperature and eat it without burning himself.

If Dash noticed how he ate steaming hot pizza so fast he didn't mention it, but he separated his own pizza and blew on it before he took a bite. The jock commented on how good it was and Danny just smirked around his own slice. The pizza at this place was the best in town and Danny hoped they would get a lot more business in the future.

After finishing up their lunch, Danny paid for the meal like he said he would and the two left. Dash had said that he was interested in seeing this bike of Danny's so he lead him back to his place. It still felt weird to Danny that Dash Baxter was hanging out with the school loser, but somewhere deep down it was a good weird that he felt he could enjoy for the time it lasted.


	7. Thinking Things Through

Dash stared at the drawing in front of him. After seeing the engine and basic frame of Fenton's bike he had set about drawing some designs for it. It wasn't too fancy and he wasn't sure if the other teen could make it but it was nice enough to practice something like this and it gave him a break from the comic he was trying to do and getting nowhere on.

"Stupid art block," Dash muttered as he glanced at the comic page he had started on but hadn't touched in days. He had started with a group of campers going to explore a cave where the ghost bats would be unleashed, but he had no idea of most of the details or really any idea of a plot on how to get Phantom into the literal picture.

Looking once more at the page before him he thought more on the last few days. He and Fenton had spent a bit more time together mainly either at the pool in the morning or at his garage in the afternoon. They'd gone out to that pizzeria for a slice a couple more times and Dash had tried a few new things and had decided that place was pretty awesome.

Right now, though, he had a large issue to deal with. He had drawn out several styles of bikes from what Fenton had showed him. Fenders, handlebars, seats, mufflers, there was a lot to design but when Fenton would work on the framework Dash would sketch out the bike in its completed stage. What he had before him was a basic idea of what he wanted the bike to look like and Dash was supposed to fine tune the look to make it look sleeker. The guy was seriously a perfectionist when it came to this bike and wanted Dash to draw out a form so he could see the bike better.

"Guess since he's going to be riding it, it has to be pretty good otherwise it might not be safe," Dash shrugged and started to draw the body of the bike. He added the sleek lines to the fenders and gave the bike a windshield that would protect him from bugs and mud flying up at him. He placed the lights and gave them a sharp pointed look to make it look fiercer and the body work all had strong bold curves that he had seen on some of the Harleys that Fenton had shown him. He gave the sides of the bike two small compartments so he could stash his stuff on trips and made the seat sit back enough where he could sit up comfortably and even have a passenger if he wanted, though without Manson around he didn't know who would want to ride behind him.

"Ehh with a body like he's got he'll find a girlfriend as soon as school starts back up. If he ever learns to dress better." Dash huffed and suddenly had a feeling tug at the inside of his stomach. It was like there was something that felt off every time he thought about Fenton. At first it was just a strange flutter but after spending time with him it had grown into an awkward feeling that he didn't know how to describe, though it was driving him crazy.

Looking at the clock on his nightstand Dash sighed at seeing it was only 3:40. He had been trying to work on things for over an hour now and had gotten nowhere.

'Maybe some fresh air at the park will help me think some.' Dash thought as he grabbed his keys and phone and headed out. The day was warm and there was a nice wind that was picking up through the sky blowing in clouds from the east. The forecast was calling for storms either Thursday or Friday but today it was nice and the wind felt good combined with the warm summer sun.

Getting to the park Dash sat around and looked at the kids that were busy playing. It had been so long ago that he had been able to just be a kid like that. Play the day away and not have to worry about things like his senior year of high school, college, grades, jobs, money, relationships; everything was just much easier when you were a kid and as Dash watched some of the kids playing he had to admit to himself that he was a bit jealous that those were some of the best years of his life. 'So far at least,' he thought with a wry chuckle.

Reaching into his pocket, Dash decided to give Kwan a call and see how his friend was doing and maybe get some advice. Kwan may have been a jock like him, but what most people didn't know was that he was actually a pretty smart guy. He had actually told Dash in confidence once that he hoped to one day become a councilor or a child psychologist to actually help people, and with the advice he tended to be able to hand out, Dash thought it was a good choice for him. He scrolled through the list of contacts before he got to Kwan's and pushed call.

"Hey, man, about time you called me. Been a while I was going to call you later to make sure everything was ok with you." Kwan rambled off before Dash could even get a word in edgewise.

"Yeah, sorry I guess I've just been a bit preoccupied with a few things." Dash sighed and rubbed at his forehead unsure of what he really even wanted to talk about.

"You ok, man? You sound a little bit down."

"Yeah, I'm fine… I've just… well… ya see…" Dash groaned and rubbed his head, "I've been hanging out with Fenton lately and… I dunno it's weird but we're getting along and it's sorta nice being around him."

"So? What's the big deal, despite what everyone else thought I thought he was a nice guy. We helped each other in math a few times and he's pretty decent."

"I guess, it's just weird. I've known him for years as this loser with a freaky goth girlfriend and a techno obsessed nerd friend and yet here he is now being all cool building his own motorcycle from scratch. It's just throwing me for a loop and it makes me feel strange." Dash ran a hand through his lightly styled hair in frustration as he heard a slight chuckle come from the other side of his phone, "What's so funny?"

"For those who have to ask no answer can suffice." Dash blinked confused and looked at the phone before he could process that comment.

"You been reading that Confucius dude again or did you just eat a fortune cookie last night?"

"Neither, it was something I saw on TV last week and thought it sounded deep," a light chuckle came from the Asian teen and Dash seriously had to wonder what was going on in his best friend's head.

"Just tell me what you're talking about, man, I'm in no mood to deal with your crazy-ass double talk."

"You like Fenton, man, it's as easy as that."

"Well yeah, I guess I mean he is a nice guy and all but I don't see what that has too-" Realization at what Kwan was saying suddenly hit him and during the short moment where his brain ceased to function he heard Kwan laughing. No doubt the other teen realized that Dash just got what he had meant.

"No! No way! There is No Way that I actually like Fenton like that!" Dash tried to keep his voice controlled and soft so no one would hear him but he couldn't help the blood that flooded to his face causing him to blush.

"Man, it's obvious you've started to like him, and come on man what's so wrong with that?"

"I am not gay Kwan," Dash growled out wishing he could reach through his phone to strangle the man on the other end.

"Didn't say you were, dude, just said that you liked him," Dash groaned and could just see the Cheshire like grin Kwan likely had on his face at the moment, "You could be bi, but come on… think about it: You have never had ANY luck with girls and even Paulina has said that you don't seem too comfortable around girls in that way. I think it was along the lines of 'you try way too hard, like you're trying to force yourself' or something. I dunno I could be paraphrasing."

"And not helping."

"Dash," Kwan sighed and the blond perked up feeling like his friend was about to say something important, "I'm not saying you go up to the guy and kiss him, but it's obvious you are feeling something for him so why not feel it out and see where it goes? You're a big guy and no one from school in their right mind would mess with you if they saw you with Fenton and I'm sure the guy isn't homophobic. I don't think the guy has a hateful bone in his body."

"I dunno man… we just started to hang out and what you're saying is really giving me a headache."

"Dude, just take it slow and see how things go. If nothing else having a friend to hang out with will be good for you since I won't be back for awhile."

"Yeah, maybe. Did you know Manson and Foley both moved? Fenton's best and only friends left and he's all alone. Maybe I'm just thinking too much on these things and I'm just feeling sorry for the guy cause he's got no one to hang with now and right now I can sorta relate to that with you being gone and all."

"Aww… You always had a soft spot, Dash, but I won't mess with your head anymore. Just know I'll be your friend no matter who you date so long as they treat you right, otherwise they're going to have words with me."

Kwan grunted and Dash couldn't help but smile at how lame that comment sounded, "First of all, I don't need you protecting me. I'm older than you by like six weeks remember? Second, I'm not sure you could take Fenton, the guy apparently learned how to fight sometime recently."

"Oh? And how do you know that?"

"Uhh… well…" Another sigh escaped Dash as he went on to explain what had happened last Monday night when he had almost been mugged.

"Wow, sounds like you were lucky that he was around to help you out. They could have really hurt you, Dash or worse."

"You saying I can't take care of myself?" Dash huffed feeling mildly insulted.

"No, I'm saying that you were outnumbered and they could have gotten a lucky punch. Just because our town has a resident superhero doesn't mean everyone is safe from everything. Phantom mainly deals with the ghosts that attack us and that itself is nearly a full time job."

"Yeah I guess…," he sighed and hung his head, "So what have you been up to?"

Kwan smiled and started to talk about the things he had been doing while visiting his grandparents. He talked about a cave that he had gone exploring in with his cousins and about a huge lake that was on their property they swam in almost daily. It sounded like he was having a lot of fun and Dash almost felt jealous that Kwan was having a fun time while he was stuck home all summer with his part time job and nothing to do.

"Well almost nothing I guess," Dash sighed as he walked around the park after talking with Kwan some more. Dash thought more about the design for the bike and then thought about Fenton. The ideas about who he was started to form shapes in the jock's mind and as he stood next to a tree he could see the form of the bike appearing completed in his head along with a good color scheme.

"Black would work well with how dark his hair is. Maybe add some watery blues along the edges since he's a swimmer. Put some green on the fenders and move the seat around and then the handlebars…" Dash thought for a moment before he was suddenly pushed out of the way and fell to the ground.

"Sorry!"

Dash was going to growl at whoever pushed him when he recognized the voice and turned to see Danny Phantom flying off. When he looked at where he had been he saw a large branch had fallen. Dash gulped at the size of it and thought about what that could have done to him if he'd been hit by it.

Looking up into the sky Dash saw Phantom flying after a couple of glowing green cat-like ghosts that were shooting flames out from their tails. It still amazed him even after all these years to see Phantom flying around and protecting the city from ghosts. He was a great hero for the people around town though he knew many who disagreed. Seeing him fight, though, was just what Dash needed to get inspired again.

He watched as Phantom dodged the flames and shot ice beams at them until they were frozen and immobile. Once they were stopped he pulled something from his waist that Dash couldn't make out and seemed to suck them into it before he flew off. It hadn't been the longest battle but to Dash it was still an amazing sight. With new inspiration pumping in his blood he started to walk back home, eager to get back to work on the design he had been thinking of, and working more on his little comic.

* * *

And this is where I likely loose a lot of followers but you know: it's my story and I'll tell it how I like.


	8. Early Edition

"Uhg…!" Danny fell right back into bed after his two hour swim that morning. It was Friday again and he had been having a long couple of nights that were starting to take its toll on him. He was sorely tempted to miss his routine swim practices but he was determined to keep up his routine. He was going to make sure that he was at the top of condition when the team started to meet in the fall and not even all these random ghost attacks were going to stop him.

He pulled off his shirt and trunks and reached into his drawers to pull on a pair of boxers before he fell back into bed. He rubbed at his stomach and sighed at the pleasant sensation of having his rough hands rub over his softer flesh. Danny didn't really know why but ever since he could remember having someone rub his stomach made him feel calm. His mother told him that he had been sick a lot as a toddler and caught a lot of stomach viruses and his parents often spent nights helping him throw up and then rubbing his stomach to help him fall back asleep.

"Nice to see you using your summer break so productively, Daniel."

Danny blinked his eyes open and looked up to see Vlad Masters dressed in his normal suit and tie looking down at him from his doorway. He looked at the clock and groaned; he had fallen asleep for almost two hours and now had to deal with Vlad. He didn't hate Vlad anymore, not really. Vlad had long given up on his desire for a relationship with his mom after he had explained everything to his parents. Vlad was heartbroken for awhile, but Jack remained his friend despite learning of the attempts on his life and remained optimistic that his old college friend would one day find someone to love him.

"Uhg… Vlad, don't start on me today. I have had a very long couple of nights lately and adding that to my swim practice every morning a little nap in the middle of the day is more than welcome," he got up and started to pull on a pair of jeans to covers his legs when he looked over at the man, "What are you doing here, anyway? Mom invite you over to try something I've made?"

"No, sadly, Daniel I'm here on business… or to put it better, our kind of business."

Danny pulled a belt through the loops on his pants and turned around still bearing his chest, "I'm listening, what's going on?"

"I assume you've noticed a recent increase in ghostly activity lately? Do you have any idea what is going on in the ghost zone?"

"Not really, Johnny stopped by last week and said some ghosts were moving around and Skulker came by the other day to pass on some news about Walker beefing up security like he was up to something. Other than that I haven't heard anything. Do you know something?"

"I don't know much but thought I'd pass on the information that I have gathered to you. It seems like there is a new ghost around that is starting to amass a bit more power than most are comfortable about. It is gaining territory and chasing off other ghosts leaving them without places to haunt in the ghost zone. So naturally they seek out homes here in our world."

"Makes sense, the same thing happened when you unleashed Pariah Dark."

"Which was a mistake and miscalculation on my part but by only a small margin. The point I'm trying to make though is that you should be on your guard as I think something big is coming our way again."

Danny nodded and looked lost in thought for a moment before he glanced up at Vlad, "Right, thanks for the info. Keep me posted and maybe we can find a way to cut this in the bud before it gets too big and we have a war on our hands."

"Of course, I doubt it will be anything so big that either of us can't handle it but I do have some ghosts looking into it to make sure," Vlad shifted his weight and suddenly got a smile on his face. Business talk was over and now standing before him was "casual Vlad" as Danny liked to call it, "How are you doing though, you're looking trim. The swimming been going well for you?"

"Heh," Danny shrugged feeling like this whole switch in personality was still a bit weird, "It's working out well. I go in the mornings when the pool is pretty empty and swim for a few hours and then come back here for something to eat. It's nothing that big but it's something to do that doesn't involve ghosts or my bike."

"Oh yes, your mother mentioned something about you building a motorcycle. She is also terrified of actually agreeing to let you ride it once you finish it."

"Did she really say that?" Danny cringed thinking that as his mother had actually seemed ok with the idea not too long ago.

"She's your mother, Daniel, she's still slightly terrified of the fact you go out and hunt ghosts without any sort of weapons but your own powers. That's just how mothers are, they worry," he shrugged like it was no big deal, "Your father on the other hand was quite proud that you've shown an interest in mechanics, but why don't you show me what you have got done. Maybe I can help out while I'm here."

"Yeah sure, I've actually been making some headway lately thanks to some help from a friend," Danny grabbed an old shirt from the bottom of his drawers and headed outside to the garage.

"I finally managed to get the frame and chassis finished and I put the engine in yesterday. I have to figure out what I want to do for a muffler though and then I get started on the body work."

Danny showed the older half ghost what he had done once they were inside and Vlad walked around it assessing it from all sides. He'd stop at some points and poke at parts and shake it here and there to make sure it wouldn't just fall apart and then would move on. By the time he had circled it three times he nodded and gave the young man an approving smile.

"It's not the most advanced or sophisticated motorcycle in the world, but I must say that considering your limited experience and skills this is quite impressive. Your parents have taught you well." Vlad smiled as he ran his hands over the smooth metal of the bike.

"Thanks, after working on the Fenton Assault Vehicle with dad over the years I guess I just picked up a lot of things and I thought if they could build an assault vehicle why couldn't I try to build a bike?"

"I suppose you have a point there. Just be sure to let your parents or I look it over before you start to ride it. We don't want you to get hurt on your first ride out and ghost powers or not if it somehow explodes it could still hurt you and others." Vlad looked at him seriously before he walked over to the table Danny was working on and looked at some of the drawings that were pinned up.

"These are very good, Daniel. I didn't know you could draw this well," he picked one up that was laying off to the side and studied it, "Is this what you are planning the finished product to look like?"

"I didn't draw those. A…" Danny stopped for a moment thinking about Dash. Did he really consider him a friend at this point? He wasn't exactly the bully he had been over the years but he wasn't sure he could call him a friend just yet, "Someone I know from school drew them for me, and he's still doing a few designs and fine tuning them. It's almost what I want though so that there is close to what I hope it will look like when I get it done."

"Hmm… well whoever drew these is quite good. Are they considering getting a degree in designing cars or art when the graduate?" The older half ghost continued to examine the drawings with a critical and appraising eye, studying it for flaws in the shapes but Danny noticed that he was indeed very impressed with what he saw.

"I dunno," Danny thought about it and even after spending some time with Dash he didn't know much more about him than he had before. The art thing still threw him for a loop and he had no idea if the jock was going to pursue a career in it after school, "But I'll be sure to tell Dash you thought so highly of his designs when I see him next."

"Dash?" Vlad looked back at Danny with a raised brow for a moment like he was thinking of something, "Do you mean that Dash Baxter boy who was always bullying you in school and making your life hell?"

"It wasn't exactly hell…" Danny muttered, "And he's actually not so bad. He didn't bully me much last year and when he did confront me it was normally just pushing me aside, making fun of my name, and a few harmless pranks. Not like I didn't prank him back or anything."

"If you say so… Still I'm surprised by his skill." Danny had been impressed with his skills too and after having him around drawing in the garage for a few times it almost felt natural to have the big guy there sitting off to the side while he tightened some bolts or cut some metal.

After talking with Vlad for a bit and getting some advice on parts and what he should do for his bike, Danny decided to make himself a sandwich and go to his room to relax. He smiled when he saw that he had emails from Tucker and Sam asking how things were going for him.

He replied and told him all about what was going on with his life, even telling them about how he was starting to become friends with Dash. They were sure to get a kick out of that after having to suffer because of the guy for so long. Once he had sent the emails Danny sat back and sighed enjoying the thought of being able to relax tonight when a small wisp of cold breath escaped his mouth.

"Yeah, I jinxed that up alright." Danny sighed and stood up to allow the familiar white circles of energy to carry over his body and transform him into the hero Danny Phantom. The presence of the ghost wasn't very strong and when Danny found the source he uncovered a small blue boy with blond bangs covering his eyes wearing overalls with a satchel slung over his shoulder and one of those hats he'd seen paper boys wear in cartoons about the 30s curled up in the attic of an old abandoned house. Looking at him Danny could just see the boy yelling "Extra, extra," and holding up a newspaper to show the front page news of the day.

"Hey…," Danny reached over slowly so not to spoke the kid, "Kid, are you ok there? You're not here to cause any trouble or anything are you?"

The young looking ghost looked up and Danny saw tears streaming down from behind his bangs. The kid looked frightened as he sat on the ground and he was sniffling and trying to hold back sobs.

"N-n-n-no trouble… I just wanted to get out of the Ghost Zone before anything bad could happen." The boy wiped his nose on his sleeve and slowly started to calm down.

"What do you mean 'before anything bad could happen'? What's going on in the Ghost Zone?" Danny became concerned now, hearing what Vlad had been talking about before along with news from Johnny and Skulker along with the other ghosts that were starting to come out more often was giving him a sense of urgency.

"M-my name's Headliner, and I can sometimes show events that are about to happen and I saw this happening," Headliner reached into the satchel and pulled out a newspaper and held it up for Danny to see. What he saw on the paper chilled Danny even more than he normally was.

It was a picture of the ghost zone but it had been ravaged. Structures were destroyed and smoke was coming from glowing green fires. Several of the doors that floated around continued to float in fragmented messes and from what Danny could see from the limited picture it looked like there were several casualties laying on the ground. The scene could easily have been described as a tornado flying through, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. Danny looked at the picture and then back to the boy several times before he could manage to think of something to say.

"What happened, or will happen I guess?"

"I don't know! I just know that something is about to happen that's going to lead to this! That's my power I can show glimpses of the future on occasion. All I know is that there's someone in the ghost zone that's trying to gain power. A lot of weak ghosts like me are afraid of whoever it is and so we're trying to find a safe place here. They're afraid of what's going on but I'm afraid of what could happen!"

"'Could happen'?" Danny looked at the boy confused as he stuffed his paper back into his satchel.

"It's not set in stone. The paper's changed sometimes from what it's showed. A few years ago it showed Pariah Dark taking over the ghost zone again, but it changed to show the ghost zone being rebuilt and at peace. It's changed a lot of times but most times the things I show happen and I don't want to be around if this one does!" The boy panted and looked on the verge of tears again and Danny reached over to put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"It's going to be ok. You know who I am, right? I'm the hero of the Ghost Zone who beat Pariah Dark and stuffed the old fart back into that sarcophagus. I'm Danny Phantom."

Headliner looked up as Danny smiled at him and suddenly looked awe struck, "You're the halfa that lives in the human world and helps ghosts and humans alike?"

Danny nodded at the praise, "That's me, Headliner. Now I know you're scared and all, but if I'm going to do anything about what's going on in the Ghost Zone, or going to happen, I need you to come with me. You'll be alright but I need to talk to some people about what's happening, and I think you will be a good source to tell us all what's going on. Think you can do that?"

The young ghost nodded his head and Danny smiled, "Good, boy, now come on and follow me." Danny started to float off and turn intangible to fly back home with Headliner right behind him. As they flew Danny pulled out his cell phone and started to call Vlad.

"Vlad, listen," Danny didn't let Vlad even utter a hello as he started to explain the call so late at night, "You need to get to my house A-SAP. I may have found a lead on that power we've been hearing about and it's not good. I've got a ghost here with information and if what he says is true we are in for one very rough time."

As the pair of ghosts flew back to Danny's house, Danny kept thinking to himself what could be going on now. If something as bad as what Headliner's paper had showed was going to happen it would have to be something powerful and unknown. Most of the other ghosts he had met with liked to cause chaos and wreck havoc on the worlds but there were very few who would go to such lengths as destroying the Ghost Zone for fun.

'Someone must be after power,' Danny thought with a grim frown, 'but what could someone need power for so much that they'd do that…?' With an angry glare and firm clench to his jaw Danny flew on, determined to find answers and put a stop to things before they got out of hand.

SilverAxe:

Glad you're sticking around. Yeah that's a big issue for this story here: Danny was young in the series and over the years he has grown in many ways. Physically, mentally, emotionally, in terms of power, skill, experience, and talent; he's still 'Danny' but he's become a lot more and come a long way since he was 14.


	9. Rough Talks

Was a bit under the weather but here's the next chapter.

* * *

Saturday morning was quiet for Dash. Much to quiet in his opinion. Fenton didn't show up for his normal swim but he didn't think too much of that. He had kept a serious routine for two weeks and if he felt he needed a break that was fine. Sunday the pool was closed and he used the rather dark day just to stay inside and draw, occasionally playing a game on his computer or watching TV. Then came Monday morning and there was still no sign of the raven haired swimmer he had become accustomed to seeing. Still it wasn't anything too serious so he shrugged it off, but when Fenton didn't appear Tuesday morning Dash thought maybe he should see if he was ok.

Walking along the streets after his shift at the pool he wondered what Fenton had been doing. He had seemed so serious about his swimming that seemed it would take something close to the end of the world to stop him from it. That was what made Dash so curious as he walked up to the building with the huge metal structure on top.

"How they managed to legally build that monstrosity on top of their building I can only imagine," Dash sighed and walked up to the steps to knock on the door when he heard some sounds coming from the garage where Fenton worked on his bike. When he got there he saw Fenton wearing a tank top that hugged his torso and a pair of oil smeared jeans. He was about to say something when he noticed that he had scratches all over his bared arms and shoulders and what looked like a very nasty bruise that was starting to fade coming up from his back to his neck.

"What the hell happened to you?!" Dash blurted out without thinking that the man might have been doing something that startling him might have ruined or gotten him hurt, but the sight of Fenton looking so roughed up from behind was too surprising to keep quiet about. The surprise concerning his back was quickly topped when the teen turned around to see who was there.

"Dash?" The blond jock's eyes went even wider as he saw the front of Fenton's body had the same treatment as the back. He had scratches all over his arms and had a bandage on his cheek and forehead. He was also sporting a very angry looking bruise around his right eye and it looked like someone had busted his lip, "What are you doing here?"

"I hadn't seen you at the pool in a few days and thought I'd come to see what's up with you. You seemed so dedicated and then you just stopped and I was curious. That doesn't answer my question though of what the hell happened to you? You look like you got beat up by someone and after what I saw you do that night it had to be someone pretty strong."

"Uhh…" Fenton looked away like he was trying to think up an answer and just shrugged as a slightly embarrassed look came to his face, "My parents needed my help with a ghost attack and I got the worst of it. That's why I haven't been to the pool in the last few days I've been trying to heal up."

"You also haven't shaved in a few days either," Dash walked into the garage and looked closer at the shorter man's face, "What's the deal? Some of the hairs look white."

Fenton looked a bit nervous and rubbed at the slight bit of white scruff he had on his chin, "Uhh… it's sort of a family trait from my dad's side. It's nothing, just like you're blond it's all in my genetics."

He laughed nervously and Dash could tell there was more to that then he was letting on but he didn't think it mattered any.

"If you say so," he set down the bag he had been carrying and pulled out one of his notebooks that he had been filling with sketches and designs, "I've kept working on designs for your bike and thought I'd bring them by for you to look at."

"Thanks, and sorry for not keeping in touch. I guess I'm still a bit unsure of where we stand with each other."

Dash stared at the teen before him unsure of what he meant. He actually had to mentally smack himself to remind himself that just earlier that year he had been shoving Fenton into his locker. It was actually hard to remember that they hadn't been on such good terms. Being around the guy, Dash just found himself relaxing and feeling comfortable around him.

"I guess I can understand that…" Dash looked away feeling awkward, "Uhh… ya know if you want I guess-"

"DANNY?" The blond jerked in shock as he heard a woman calling for the young man before him who cringed, "Danny, you better not be doing anything too strenuous. After all that happened you know you shouldn't-Oh. I'm sorry I didn't know someone was out here." Mrs. Fenton came into the garage in all her blue jump suited glory smiling but then frowned when she saw who it was, "What is Dash Baxter doing here, Danny?"

"Dash has been helping me design my bike, mom, we've actually been talking and getting on better terms with each other lately and he hasn't tried to beat me up or anything in a long time now so don't worry."

Mrs. Fenton frowned, clearly not happy with seeing her son's bully hanging around her son. Still, though, the fact that his best friends had moved away might have had something to do with her accepting him and nodding.

"I suppose so long as he behaves then I don't have to worry about anything then," she put her hands on her hips and sighed before glaring at her son, "But, You, mister are supposed to be taking it easy, so out of this garage and get back inside. Go watch some TV or a movie or something, order a pizza and play video games. I don't care what you do so long as you're taking it easy. Now, both of you scoot!"

"Alright, alright, we're going, sheesh," Fenton walked ahead with Dash's sketch book in hand and held the door open to their kitchen.

"Sorry about my mom, she's a bit upset that I got hurt over the weekend," he put the sketch book on the table and went over to the fridge, "Want something to eat? I've got some nice wild berry cheesecake ice cream that I made last night, we have some fried chicken I made Friday, I've got some of my pizza dough ready I can make us a pizza, or you just want some chips or something?"

"Whoa, hold the phone. You made ice cream? And fried chicken and pizza dough?" Dash rubbed at his eyes for a moment before he stared at the teen before him. The fried chicken was one thing, the fact Fenton was implying that he made his own ice cream and pizza dough though threw him for a loop once again. It was like the Fenton he had picked on all this time was gone and had been replaced by this somehow very talented and pretty cool dude in front of him.

"Yeah, it's really not that hard, why do you-" He looked back at Dash and it suddenly dawned on him, "Oh I guess cooking must seem pretty lame and girly to you huh?"

"Oh, no, no, not at all, it's just… Geeze there's so much about you that I never knew. At school you were always a clumsy loser who stumbled over everything and were always getting into trouble. I guess I just never realized that you could do so much."

"Well, my parents can't cook that great. I love them and all but their research tends to take up a lot of their time. They always made sure we had food and all but they were never really good cooks. I remember one time they put some hot dogs in the fridge as well as one of their experiments and the next thing we know we have mutant living hot dogs."

"Are you serious?" Dash stared wide eyed at what he had just heard as Fenton nodded.

"Yep, and I forget how or why but at one point my dad was able to tame the beasts and wore them as armor for something… Ehh the whole thing was crazy but my point is that they were never great cooks so ever since Jazz could reach the stove she's been cooking the majority of our dinners. After freshman year I started to learn to cook from her and… well someone else and I took a real shine to it," he smirked and shrugged his shoulders as he reached into the fridge to pull out a bowl, "Turned out I had a real talent in the kitchen as well as the garage."

"Wow… All I'm really good at is sports and drawing a bit," he muttered feeling slightly inadequate knowing that he had so few practical skills to get by on, "Speaking of, though, where is Jazz these days?"

"Oh my overachieving sister is off at her Ivy League school taking summer classes," Fenton sighed and started to go around the kitchen to get out things to apparently having decided to make a pizza, "She's dead set on either graduating and getting her degree as quickly as possible or burning herself out. And hey, don't sell yourself so short. Vlad saw your drawings and he was actually impressed by them and let me tell you right now he does NOT impress easily."

"Vlad?"

"He's a friend of the family. A billionaire from Wisconsin and is into ghosts like my parents. They all went to college together and stops by from time to time, but enough about that. What'll you have on your half of pizza?"

"Uhh…" Dash shook his head as he examined all the ingredients around the table, "Well, I guess cheese, pepperoni, and… what's that, spinach?"

"Yep," Fenton smirked, "I sorta learned to like spinach on my pizza after trying it as Chester's place awhile back. Really learned to like a lot of new things form that place, though, I'm still not a fan of calamari. Then again that may be because it doesn't taste really good when it's cold."

"Well… ok I'll try pepperoni and spinach and if you have any onions I'll have some of those too."

"Heh, hope you don't plan on kissing anyone after eating that then, onion breath can be really nasty."

Dash blinked and Fenton paled a bit realizing at what he just said, "Uhh… forget I said that," he laughed a bit nervously and went to a drawer to get out a knife, "Onions coming right up!"

As he watched the raven haired teen before him Dash couldn't help but try to shake off that feeling he had. Fenton had meant it as a joke but saying it to him seemed to frighten him.

'He likely thought he was implying something about me and was scared I'd beat him up or something. Geeze, I guess I never gave him any indication to think otherwise but still, we're getting along and everything,' The blond ran his hand through his short hair for a moment lost in thought before he gulped, 'If nothing else, I need to take the first step; he has no reason to think he can. C'mon, Baxter, man up.'

"Hey… uh… Fenton?" Dash waited for a moment for him to stop chopping at an onion to turn around and when he had his attention he looked into his eyes, "What… What do you think about me? I mean how do I seem to you?"

The teen stood looking at him curiously, like he was trying to sense a trap in the words, "I dunno, Dash. I guess I think you're alright. When you're not trying to beat me up or anything I guess you're a nice guy though I still don't know why you were always bullying me in school." He frowned and went back to preparing the toppings for the pizza.

A sigh came from Dash at hearing that, "I'm… sorry about bullying you and everything. I know I've been a real ass and everything and you probably wouldn't understand things if I explained them to you, but I did have my own reasons I guess when I think about it." He looked up and saw that Fenton had turned to look at him with a raised brow, "I'd sorta like to be friends with you if that's ok. I mean we're getting along and everything and you're actually pretty cool now that I'm getting to know you and all. Plus we could both use more friends I guess since we're both alone until school."

A conflicted sound came from the teen before him and as he turned around to fix the pizza he looked like he was mulling things over in his head. Dash watched him for awhile longer as he spread out the dough, covered it in sauce and then went about preparing the toppings. The jock felt the uncomfortable silence weigh heavily upon him and he didn't know what the other was thinking for the longest time. When he finally put the pizza in the over he sat across the kitchen table from him and sighed.

"Dash… listen: this is still strange to me and all. You've been a huge pain in the butt for several years now and while I've gotten a few jabs back at you as well I'm just not sure. I mean I'd like it if we could become friends. I really don't have anyone else anymore now that Sam and Tucker are gone."

"Right… I'm sorry about that too," Dash reached over and put his hand on the exposed shoulder that had a scrape along it and gave it a little squeeze, "I know they meant a lot to you but at least you can still talk to them online and all, right?"

"Yeah, but you know it's not the same as having someone to actually hang out with."

"I guess I can understand that," Dash leaned over the table and sighed as Fenton started to open up the sketch book and flip through it. For some reason Dash felt even more nervous to have his work being looked at by the guy sitting across from him. He had never let anyone other than Kwan see his work before and having someone he used to beat on see it felt like he was bearing his soul to the other. Dash watched Fenton as he flipped from page to page, his eyes glancing over the drawings and designs. At points he'd stop and let his gaze linger on something and Dash would see his lips move like he was saying something to himself before he'd move onto the next page.

"Whoa…" Dash looked over to see what Fenton was looking at and gulped at the drawing he was staring at. It had been the one he had spent the most time on and was the most proud of. The bike had a windshield that slopped up to give the bike a more aerodynamic look and make it look sleeker. The body was curved and strong, shaped with compartments to store things on the side and enough room on the seats for two people. The fenders were simple but were a bit larger than necessary covering over a third of the wheels which Dash had designed to be bright shiny chrome. The whole bike was drawn in black but there where jagged light blues and whites along the edges, and some deep blue waves on the side of the fender that were accented with whites and blacks. The whole thing looked very masculine and tough and Fenton stared at it with his mouth open for several minutes making Dash wonder what was going through his mind.

"This… This is how I want it to look." Fenton grinned like a madman and held it up, "Dash this is just awesome! After I'm allowed to get back to work I'm going to get started on shaping it up like this!"

"Th-thanks, I'm glad you like it," Dash looked away feeling a flush come to his face. He had never been truly praised like that by anyone before. Sure, Kwan had said his art was awesome and everything but he had never drawn something for Kwan that left him smiling as wide as Fenton was. The guy just was radiating excitement and talking about all sorts of things, like the upholstery, metals, the muffler, and everything he was saying was going by so fast that it went over Dash's head as he just sat there and continued to smile.

"Dash?" The blond shook his head and looked up at Fenton's face, "You sorta spaced out there, you ok?"

"Yeah," he waved it off like it was nothing, which it was, "Just not used to that sort of praise… it's nice I guess."

A strange look came over Fenton's face as he studied the jock before him, "Hey… Dash, mind if I ask you a question? I mean you can say no and all but something's been bugging me and I wanted to ask you about it?"

'Damn it! What did I do that he wants to know about? Crap does he think I'm watching him to much or something at the pool and that's the real reason he hasn't been around, he's just been going later to avoid me? No if that was the case he wouldn't have invited me in like this. Unless he thought I'd beat him up and GAH stop it before you make yourself crazy!' Dash mentally shook out his crazy train of thought before he nodded.

"Sure, what did you want to ask?"

"Well…" He sighed and got up as the timer on the oven went off and he went to get the pizza out, "You just seem to be a really good artist and I was wondering if you were considering or had considered doing something with it one day?"

"Heh, yeah right…" Dash huffed and looked away even as his nose called out to him to turn back so that he could smell the heavenly aroma that was coming from the pizza that Fenton had just pulled out, "I'm not that great, I just had a lot of references to work with and copied what I saw. Plus what kind of job could I get as an artist? Painting houses doesn't exactly sound like a great way to earn a living."

"Some people get paid pretty well to do that, you know," Dash could hear a smile in the other teen's voice and he flinched at how it was so devoid of malice and hate, if it had been him he would have likely agreed with Fenton or put him down but he didn't. It made Dash feel even weirder about the guy.

"And I think you have a great deal of talent. You could design bikes, buildings, maybe draw animation or heck maybe you could even become a graphic novel artist and draw your own comics. There's lots you can do, Dash, don't sell yourself so short." Fenton turned around and the smile he gave him was so sincere and honest that Dash had to look away again.

"Y-You're the first person to talk about my drawings like that. I've only ever shown Kwan some of my drawings and he thinks they're good and all but he never talked about them like you do."

"Well that's a shame, you're really talented," Fenton frowned and got out a knife to get the pizza cut up, "Hey maybe one day you can show me all your drawings and I can see what all you're capable of."

"Maybe," Dash just muttered and tried to calm the rapid beating of his heart. The praise had been unexpected but welcome and Dash felt tremendous joy at being able to help Fenton with his project.

* * *

SilverAxe: It is going to be a mysterious ghost that much I can assure you. Will it be seen in this story or not though is the question you should be asking. Glad you liked the name of the paper boy, it was really something I don't remember how it started. I know I based him off the idea of a show called Early Edition from the 90s that I enjoyed but that's about it.

FallingNarwhals: Glad you like Headliner, not sure if he'll be seen much in any other story or the future of this one but still glad you like him. Yeah I just hated how they dealt with Vlad and made him a crazy freaky stalker and just a lot about him in general so because I have other plans and ideas I figured making him a friend would work better here. Well about Dash finding out... that's a spoiler now isn't it? All that will be determined in its own way and time. I will tell you this though: Dash's attraction is more important than you'd think and will lead to some interesting things later on. Uh, no I honestly have very little knowledge about motors, cars, and all things wheeled. If I need to know something research and lots of reading is the way to go. Glad you're enjoying things though.

WildGhost: Yeah I know it's weird and all, but making him less crazy and obsessive works out better for other story ideas. Plus I hate how petty he was and felt that he deserved a second chance at a better situation.


	10. Bothersome Bugs

So reasons this took so long:

Started a new job on the 23rd

Got into a major car accident and tumbled down a steep ditch and totaled my Pathfinder on the 24th (I'm fine though my ride is now scrap)

I've been editing this and making sure it's good.

So yeah I'm fine and the whole story is done just doing some editing and fixing things but I'll post each new chapter as I finish the second go through.

* * *

"So I'll see you tomorrow, if nothing else just to enjoy the water." Danny waved goodbye as Dash left and closed the door behind him. He smiled to himself at the nice afternoon he had had with the jock. They had talked about a few things, movies they'd seen and that were coming out, video games they liked, and they each showed an interest in what the other was good at. Dash asked a lot of questions about Danny's bike and complimented him on his cooking skills as he ate the pizza and Danny asked Dash about his art and if he did anything besides drawing.

After eating their pizza they went out to the family room and watched a movie for awhile. They talked about the action scenes and laughed at some of the cheesy dialogue and before either of them knew it, it was early evening and Dash had to get home for dinner. Before leaving though Dash took out the picture of the motorcycle he had drawn out and gave it to him. He said that he had drawn it for him anyway and so he deserved to keep it. Danny thanked him for it and after saying their goodbyes walked out to the garage to look at it some more. It really was impressive how well Dash had drawn it and as Danny looked the drawing over he thought more on what he would need to do in order to get it to look like this.

"Going to need a lot of metal and to run some numbers, but at least now that I have an idea I can start planning out and working on things. Maybe I can talk to Tucker tonight and he can help with the numbers." Danny grabbed the notebook he kept his ideas and all the figures and data he needed for his bike and jotted down a few things. He knew he wasn't supposed to be out in the garage but he found it easier to relax when his mind wasn't focused on the problems facing the ghost zone.

After he had gotten Headliner back to his house and Vlad had gotten there he told the adults about the young ghost's powers and what it showed. Vlad was intrigued by such a power and thought that it could be useful if he could learn to control it better, and after a bit of discussion agreed that they needed to investigate what might be going on in the Ghost Zone immediately.

After getting some gear together, he and Vlad had set out to the Ghost Zone leaving Headliner behind with his parents to monitor things. With the equipment in his parents' lab they could easily detect any strange signals before they could pinpoint them as well as keep in touch with them should anything happen. They didn't find anything for the first hour of searching but after spotting some signs of a battle they flew on for answers.

It had taken another hour before they came across what once might have been a field of vegetation at one point but was now better classified as a wasteland. What was left of the plant life was withered and dying; the trees that still stood were still smoldering from whatever had burned them and a few green flames had yet to go out on the branches of the black charred wood. As Danny looked around, Vlad started to take samples of the soil. He said that compared to the soil of other areas of the Ghost Zone that this seemed different and Vlad wanted to run some tests to compare it.

Before they could do much more though, the pair found themselves blown apart by a blast of energy. As the dust settled they saw a swarm of large ghost bees swarming at them and firing ecto-blasts from their stingers. Both half ghosts dodged and flew about trying to fend off the annoying bugs but it seemed that no matter how many of the flying insects they blasted down there were still dozens more to take their place.

Sensing their chances of winning to be declining, they eventually managed to fly off. By that point they had already taken several blasts and were slightly injured. Fortunately they managed to find a place to hide from them as they passed. Unfortunately, though, they had hid in a cave that belonged to several glow-worm-like ghost moths that started to blow dagger-like scales at them with the 30 mph wind blasts from their large wings.

It seemed that no matter where they flew off to or hid they kept on being attacked by large ghost insects or hordes of normal sized insects that could quickly over power them. By the time they managed to escape a giant beetle and get back to the more familiar areas of the ghost zone both Danny and Vlad were exhausted and sporting various injuries. When they got back they were immediately looked over despite the two half ghosts saying that they didn't sustain anything too serious. The whole incident though had forced Danny to take it easy for the next few days.

Vlad had run his tests on the soil samples from the area they had found and the results were not good. It seemed like someone or something had drained the entire area of nutrients and left behind nothing but dust. According to Vlad the area would take decades to heal itself at the very least and whatever had lived there before was likely never to come back.

The fact all of the insects came at them though, told Danny that they had gotten close to whatever new power was affecting the Ghost Zone and was likely the source of Headliner's prophecy. He didn't know what was going on but as he stared at his notebook and started to make notes on things he just knew that these bugs were going to be connected to it all. As it stood now they only had Headliner's paper that still showed the destruction of a great deal of the Ghost Zone, the ghost bugs, and what they had heard from the various ghosts to go on and even that wasn't much.

"Ehh screw it, until something happens there's nothing that can be done about it," Danny sighed and put everything away for the night before he took his book and Dash's drawing up to his room. It was only 5 o'clock but he thought he'd get on his computer to see if Tucker or Sam were on to video chat.

He signed on and sat back in his chair spinning around, trying to piece together the events of the last few weeks. Getting to know Dash was weird enough but now there were swarms of ghost bugs that were causing everyone problems it seemed.

"Just had to be curious and go into the stupid machine, didn't you, Danny?" Danny sighed thinking about the events that lead up to his gaining ghost powers as he glanced over and saw that both Sam and Tucker were on, "Well at least I have a bit of luck."

He smiled and pulled up the message windows and invited both of his friends to video chat. He didn't have to wait long before both of his friends' faces appeared.

"Hey guys."

"Danny, we were just talking about you." Sam spoke up first and Danny was glad to see her. Since she had left she had let her hair grow out a bit like he had, only her hair was much longer and done up in a braid behind her head. She still had the whole Goth image going on but she was a bit more tanned, likely from living in such a sunny place.

"Really?"

"Nah, not really we were talking about the new Zombie Storm movie that's coming out and how it'll be the first one we won't see together." Tucker waved, "Hey, Danny."

Tucker was still fairly skinny despite his high protein diet and had shaved his head for the summer. He had also ditched his red beret for a simple cap that had his college colors. Other than that Tucker Foley was still the same techno geek that Danny had known since they were both children.

"Yeah, it sorta sucks that we aren't together anymore but it's ok. We still have the internet after all." Danny smiled at them. It was nice to see his friends again; with them being in different time zones it was hard to sometimes get together.

"Yeah, that's true. So, Danny how's that bike of yours going? You finally get an idea of what you want it to look like?" Sam smiled at him as she adjusted her seating so that she could lean back in her bed with her laptop.

"Actually, yeah. I got someone to draw out some designs and today they showed me some of them and well…" Danny lifted the drawing Dash had done to his web camera to show his friends, "Take a look at this."

Danny heard his friends whistle and comment in admiration in what he was showing them.

"Is that what your bike's gonna look like when it's done, Danny?" Tucker looked at his friend when he pulled it away.

"That's the plan. I've got the design so now I just need to make it look like that and work on the numbers."

"So you're going to rely on Tucker for the numbers portion I hope?" Sam gave a sly smile to her friend which Danny rolled his eyes at.

"Yes, Sam I know I'm still not good at math."

"Leave it to me, Danny, I can take a look at it and have everything you need to know before Saturday."

"Yeah, I won't be able to work on anything for a few days anyway. Got hurt fighting ghosts and now mom has me bared from anything too strenuous for awhile."

"Man, you alright? What's going on?"

"It's nothing too serious, yet, Tuck," Danny went on to explain everything that had been going on lately with the Ghost Zone and the ghost bugs he had fought. He even told them about Headliner and how they were hoping the young ghost could help them.

"Sounds like you've got a busy time ahead of you, Danny, you going to be alright?"

"Yeah don't worry about me, Sam, I've got my parents, several ghosts, and even Vlad on my side now. Between all of us we should be able to stop this thing and even the ghosts that hate me might be willing to help out since if we lose they lose too."

"The old 'Enemy of my enemy' strategy, Danny?" Tucker smiled, "Man I do not envy you one bit. Though looking at some of these text books I almost think I might have it harder."

"Ehh suck it up, Tucker, you chose to take that scholarship after all, but back to more normal things," Sam stared at Danny, "Who drew that design for you Danny?"

"You won't believe me when I tell you," Danny chuckled as he put the picture in his scanner to send to Tucker, "But Dash Baxter drew it."

He expected a large reaction from his friends but Sam just stared at him and it looked like Tucker was fiddling with his computer.

"Say that again, Danny? I think my connection had a hiccup 'cause it sounded like you said that Dash Baxter drew that picture for you."

"That's cause I did," he smirked at his friend.

"That Neanderthal block-head that has been a near constant source of pain and humiliation for you over the years actually did something nice for you?!" Sam shouted at him and he saw that Tucker was just as surprised from the wide eyes and slightly agape mouth, "Wait a minute, that idiot can actually draw that good? Did he trace it out of a magazine or something?"

"No, I actually saw him drawing a few things last week when we were in the garage. He's actually been a big help in getting out what I want some things to look like before I make them."

"Hold the phone now," Tucker shook his head confused, "You… and Dash… have been hanging out… together… alone… in your garage?" When Danny nodded he just gawked at him, "Are you insane?!"

"Yeah, Danny, what are you thinking letting that guy in a place where an 'accidental' shove could seriously hurt you?"

"Sam… guys…" Danny took a deep breath and sighed, "It's ok. Dash has actually been kinda cool lately ever since he saw me swimming. Turns out he's the lifeguard on the morning shift at the pool and after I helped him deal with some punks that were trying to mug him we've been hanging out some and it's been… well it's weird but it's not bad."

"If you say so man…" Tucker shrugged and leaned back in his chair as they started to talk more about other things. Tucker talked about his summer classes and Sam talked about how her new school went while she had been there. It wasn't the same as all being together but for Danny it was better than nothing.

That night as Danny laid down in his bed he went over the events of his day with Dash. It hadn't been anything exceptionally big but somehow it seemed like they were actually beginning to get along better. As he drifted off to sleep Danny smiled; somehow the thought of seeing Dash again tomorrow made him happy.

* * *

SilverAxe:

Danny and Vlad can both give whoever fights them a run for their money most times, but even the strongest of people will fall prey to larger numbers.

FallingNarwhals:

Yeah there's a lot of fluff, but at least this chapter has some action to it.


	11. Pool Talks

Short chapter I know but as it's from Dash's point of view it doesn't have much going on. The next chapter will have an interesting new ally brought in but I swear things will pick up. I'm just a slow build up kind of person, bare with me please.

* * *

It was a pleasant enough morning at the pool. The morning was sunny and warm, the skies were clear, and Fenton was back in the water. Without his shirt on, Dash saw that the raven haired teen had a lot of bruises, cuts, and what looked like a few burns all over his body. He also noticed that he hadn't shaved and still had that odd white scruff on his chin. It was unusual to say the least but living in a town that was haunted by ghosts he didn't find it too terribly strange.

Right now he was just watching the man float around. He was supposed to be taking it easy so he was just swimming around slowly enjoying the cool morning waters. Dash still couldn't see why he liked to swim so early in the morning but he supposed it was just a matter of preference.

He watched as the man just floated about on his back and kick around some before he'd dive under the water to swim towards the edge of the pool. At one point Dash actually counted how long he was under the water and found himself impressed with how long Fenton held his breath.

"If he's this good he should have joined the swim team years ago." Dash muttered to himself as he looked away and saw an older couple teaching their kid to swim. It was a cute little domestic scene and Dash almost wished he had his sketch book with him to draw it. It wasn't anything too special, just a man and a woman with a little kid who couldn't have been much older than three playing in the water, but it stuck out in Dash's mind that his own parents had often been too busy to deal with him lately.

He knew they loved him and everything, but they were often busy with work and didn't have as much time to spend with him. He didn't mind it so much, having grown used to it ages ago, but still it sometimes made him jealous of other kids whose parents were around a lot more, like Fenton's were.

After awhile Dash looked over and saw that Fenton had gotten out and was drying off by a nearby lounge chair. Knowing he wouldn't likely stay much longer Dash whistled to get his attention and then motioned for him to come over once he looked up.

"You doing better today I guess?" Dash looked down at the guy and forced himself to look at the injuries and not examine the fit appearance as a whole. He was still conflicted about these feelings he was having towards Fenton simply on a friendly level and what Kwan had said made it harder for him to ignore everything that kept popping into his head.

"Yeah, my mom was hesitant to let me come swimming but I told her I'd just take it easy and swim a little for fun and not do any of my drills."

Dash nodded and noticed a particularly bad scrape on the left side of his stomach, "Do you get hurt like that a lot?"

When he looked down at where Dash was looking he just shrugged at the wound like it was no big deal, "Not often but it's not as bad as it looks. Plus I heal pretty fast so it's not a big deal."

"Geeze, Fenton, what is wrong with you? I know your parents are all into that ghost hunting stuff but if you get hurt like this maybe you shouldn't be getting involved. I mean didn't you want to be an astronaut at one point?"

"Heh, been there done that," Dash tilted his head confused at what Fenton had muttered.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Oh nothing, forget it," He laughed a bit nervously and that caused even more confusion for the blond jock, "But didn't think you knew that about me."

"Please, everyone knows you're into space and have, or had I guess, dreams of going out into space one day. It's as well known about you as the fact your sister is a genius and your parents are ghost hunters."

"Still weird for you to know that about me, especially considering that I have no idea what you want to do with your life after you get out of high school. Go to a college on a football scholarship or some other athletic scholarship I guess?"

"Dunno," Dash frowned and looked away, "I'm ok at sports and all but I don't know if I'm good enough for a scholarship and even if I am I don't know what I want to do with my life yet."

"I'm telling you, you could always get into art and do something with that. I mean I think you're really good and from what I've shown others of your work they were all really impressed too."

Dash stared at Fenton for a moment in shock. The teen's smile was shy but sincere and Dash didn't doubt that he was telling the truth. It was just in all his years he had never thought he was good enough in his art to really do anything with it, and while he wasn't sure he wanted to use it as a career, having Fenton praise him so much and so often was starting to give him some confidence in his abilities.

"Well either way you've got a whole year to figure things out I guess. Hopefully you'll figure something out in that time." He shrugged and sat down on a nearby chair.

"Maybe, but what about you? If you're not going to do the space thing what are you going to do with your life? Hunt ghosts like your parents?"

"Heck no," Fenton laughed at the idea and shook his head, "I might be able to work with them from time to time, but that doesn't mean I want to do that my whole life. Nah, I was thinking either taking classes and becoming an engineer if I can wrap my head around the numbers or maybe go to a culinary school. I'm still sort of leaning more towards mechanics though and maybe opening up my own customization shop one day for bikes if I can get mine running."

"Did you get anything done from that design I gave you?"

"I sent the design to Tucker. He's going to go over it for me and send me back some numbers. Now that I have a design though it should go along much smoother. In fact come the first day of school I should be riding up in my own personalized motorcycle." The raven haired teen smiled at the idea and Dash almost thought he stuck out his chest a bit in pride from the very idea of him riding a motorcycle to school.

Dash could actually just see it now. Fenton would ride up to school in a leather jacket and one of those full head helmets that didn't show anything about a person's face. Then he'd park somewhere where everyone would see this mysterious biker guy getting off his personalized bike. Once he had the attention of everyone around him trying to get a look at him he'd slowly take off the helmet and shake out his hair that was still tied back in a short pony tail and show that it was Fenton, the guy who everyone thought was a loser, riding up on that bike.

"So you showed Foley that drawing, huh?" Dash sighed as what Fenton had told him finally caught up in his head. He was actually glad that he had gone off to college early so that the techno geek wouldn't spread it around that the resident quarterback and star jock of Casper High was an artist.

"He helps with the numbers part of the building process. Calculates the amount of materials I'll need, figures out the width, height, and figures of the body… etcetera," He shrugged, "After he gives me a more detailed blueprint, I can build it. I just need to know the exact numbers. From there it's pretty much like building a model rocket ship and I've been doing THAT since I was seven."

"Still can't believe you're actually building a bike. Actually I can't believe your parents are letting you build a bike and then letting you ride it."

"Well they will be going over it to make sure it's safe before I can ride it, so it's not like I'm going to just hop on it the moment I turn the key and go riding off into the sunset or… whatever."

Dash nodded in understanding and looked back out at the pool trying to think of something else to talk about as the silence between them grew again. Finally the blond just decided to man up and after clearing his throat looked over at Fenton who was smiling watching the small family swimming in the shallow end.

"Hey, uh… Fenton?" When the teen looked up with a bit of curiosity in his eyes Dash had to swallow a lump in his throat, "You uh… want to catch that new Zombie Storm IV movie this Friday?"

Fenton tilted his head like he was studying him for a moment before he gave a small smile, "Sure, I was actually talking to Sam and Tucker last night about how this will be the first time we won't get to see a movie from our favorite series together. It'd be nice to hang out with someone and see it."

Dash smiled, it may not have been what he exactly wanted but it was a good start in his opinion. He was still conflicted about his feelings but dwelling on things wasn't doing him any good.

"Great, I heard it's supposed to be a great one." Dash smiled at Fenton who simply shrugged and continued to look out at the pool.

"You ok?"

"Yeah, just thinking on some stuff. The future, school, what may lay ahead for me… that sorta stuff."

Dash watched the teen for a moment before he let his gaze fall back onto the pool. Fenton just kept on doing things and saying things that made him seem like a whole other person than the scrawny kid he'd been back in freshman year. It was interesting, but at the same time Dash was a bit scared to think that he might have been bullying someone this awesome for so long.

* * *

FallingNarwhals: I'm fine, was just a little banged up. Car was totaled but I am unharmed, thanks for the concern. I mainly said that as a way of having like a journal entry for the day. Things will get more detailed and involved soon, just bare with me while I build things up.

WildGhost: Dash will learn more about Danny as the chapters progress that's all I will say without spoiling things. I will say that I've written Dash as I have here for a specific reason. If you want to try to figure it out I could tell you if you're hot or cold ;).


	12. A Growing Number of Allies

This marks the half way point to the end of this story. There's 23 chapters to this and I'm working on the finishing touches as fast as I can.

* * *

Thursday morning was uneventful for Danny. He had finally healed enough that he could go swimming again and after that he got home and started to work even harder on his bike. Tucker had managed to get back to him Wednesday evening and as soon as they had talked a bit he had started to get to work on making his dream bike a reality. He was eager to work on the parts for the body and to finally get a frame together. After he had a light lunch he went to the garage and started working like a mad man for barely a few minutes when he felt a chill and a familiar wisp of cold air escape his mouth.

"For crying out loud, I finally start to make some headway and get started on my frame here and a ghost shows up! Oh whoever this is better have a damn good reason for being here…" Danny walked out to the back yard as he transformed and looked around. Right when he was about to take to the air though, he felt something ensnare his foot keeping him from launching himself into the air. Looking down he saw a small vine had wrapped around his foot and was starting to move up to grab his whole leg.

"Undergrowth!" Danny growled and shot out an ice beam to freeze the plant before it could do any harm to him. Once it broke off he jumped into the air and looked around trying to find where the ghost was.

"I am not here to fight, Phantom." The tangled mass of vines that was Undergrowth came out from the ground beside an old maple tree the Fentons had in their back yard and looked around cautiously, "I only wish to talk; I am here for a much more important reason."

Danny slowly lowered himself closer to the ground but remained floating in case he had to escape, "What do you want to talk to me about, Undergrowth, and why are you so small here? You're normally bigger than this." While that was one fact, Danny could also see that the ghost was less green than normal and seemed to have various battle wounds covering his body that he had patched up with some type of leaves.

"I have been weakened a great deal by the growing threat in the Ghost Zone. My domain was recently completely decimated and I am still trying to recover from the attack."

"Your domain?" Danny stared at him with wide eyed fear, "Someone actually destroyed your entire domain?" The young half ghost knew that Undergrowth was by-far no pushover in terms of power. The fact that someone had beaten him and left him so weak meant that there was someone with either an enormous army to fight or someone extremely powerful.

"Yes, I have heard that you were actually around there recently and had seen the devastation that was wrought upon me." The plant ghost growled and slammed his clawed fist into the tree he stood beside, "Those blasted bugs destroyed my home! And if that wasn't enough, to add insult to the injury they sapped the nutrients from the ground! It will take years of work to restore it to its former beauty!"

"Ok, calm down," Danny held up his hands and looked at the being before him, "When I was there with Vlad we found an area of land that had been destroyed by something, I'm guessing your domain. We ran some tests on the soil and it's basically just dirt, no nutrients just like you said. It's pretty much useless for almost anything to grow in it as it stands now. Then we were attacked by swarms of different types of ghost insects. I'm guessing there's a connection between the two?"

"You are correct. These insects came to my home, sucked out every last bit of sustenance they could get their grubby little claws on and then fled like a swarm of locusts to find another area to decimate!"

"What else? Can you tell me why these bugs would suddenly come after you or what they're after?"

"I don't know what they are after or who sent them or even if they were exactly after me. What I can tell you though, is that they needed my land to nourish their growing army. Someone is trying to take control of the Ghost Zone and is trying to amass a great deal of power in order to rule over it. That much I am certain."

"It looks like there's going to be another war on our hands…" Danny held his chin as he started to think, "What are you going to do now?"

The ghost stared at the teen and crossed his arms, "I am willing to form an alliance with you temporarily if it means the defeat of these ghost insects."

"Well thanks but that's not what I meant exactly. I meant what are you going to do now here in the real world?"

"You do not need to fear, I have grown weak from my battle and I only need a place to rest and nourish myself."

"Right," The white haired ghost nodded, "You can stay here for awhile, just don't cause any trouble."

"Your concern for me is… questionable, ghost boy." Undergrowth tilted his head one way then another as if studying the teen before him, "Why are you so concerned for me after all the trouble I have given you and your world?"

"Because I know that what you were doing was in your own twisted way 'good'. You wanted to stop developers from tearing down a park and stop people from tearing down forests and trees. While I don't agree with how you did it I can understand it. Sam is the same way. Always wanting to do the best for the environment and everything," Danny shrugged, "Besides I know what it feels like to lose your home, I've had to experience what that must be like so I can sympathize with you on that." He frowned as he thought about the alternate timeline Clockwork had once shown him.

"I see now…" Undergrowth nodded as he relaxed a little before Danny, "I can see why so many ghosts have made you their ally over the years. You have a great deal of empathy for many of us and do not wish us harm, but at the same time do not wish us to harm your world."

"Well yeah," Danny shrugged as he landed and started to walk away, "I know not all ghosts are evil and all, and I know for a fact that there are a lot of humans that would want to catch and dissect if not outright destroy a ghost. I just want the ghosts that come here to exist peacefully; otherwise I have to beat them back into the Ghost Zone."

"I will need some time to think about this, Phantom."

Danny shrugged unsure of what to actually think about that comment as he went back to the garage to continue working on his bike. He actually got a lot done before he had to go fix dinner and eat. Earlier he had passed on the information Undergrowth had told him to Vlad and after a bit of explaining, and telling his father that he could not dissect the plant ghost in their yard, Maddie and Jack agreed to let Undergrowth stay in their back yard.

"And that's pretty much been my day," Danny sighed as he sat at his desk looking at his friends again.

"So you've made friends with the giant evil ghost plant that tried to take over the planet, used Sam as some freakish zombie gardener, and tried to use us all for fertilizer…?" Tucker nodded sagely and then opened his eyes widely, "ARE YOU NUTS MAN?!"

"Geeze, Tuck, chill. I mean it's not like he can do much anyway. He was pretty beaten up when he came here and he hasn't tried anything funny. Plus if he does try anything I am still pretty confident that I can handle him. I've gotten a lot stronger over the years you know."

"I'm just amazed at the allies you've gotten over the years… Skulker, Johnny and Kitty, Ember, VLAD, Technus, and now Undergrowth, for now at least," Sam shook her head with a rueful smile, "Just hard to imagine that these guys are on your side now after all the times they've tried to kill you and you've beat them."

"Yeah well at least with the Box Ghost on my side I don't have to listen to him constantly shouting 'BEWARE' when he comes for a visit. Or get served a slice of 'doom' by the Lunch Lady anymore, who, by the way, sends her regards and congratulations to you Tucker and hopes you're eating well at college."

Tucker groaned and shook his head, "Life got crazy when you got your ghost powers, it got crazier when we had to help save the Ghost Zone and our world on a few occasions, and now years later it is STILL getting crazier now that our once enemies are friends of ours."

"Well I welcome the change. The less enemies I have the more time I can actually spend being normal and having a life." Danny chuckled, "Speaking of, I won't be on Friday night I'm going to go see the Zombie Storm movie with Dash."

"You asked Dash out to see a movie?!" Tucker yelled into the camera again staring at his long time friend, "Wait, since when did Dash get into guys?!"

"Gah, Tucker will you settle down… Geeze you need to get on some Adderall if you're this hyper every time something happens. And no, I did not ask Dash out he asked me, and it's not even a date. Why am I having to explain this to you?!" Danny suddenly realized what his friend was talking about and had to shake his head to clear out how confusing and random it was.

"Sorry, man," Tucker smirked, "Just playin' with, ya," Danny rolled his eyes and shook his head. He had no problem with the idea of homosexuality and had entertained the idea on a few occasions but he often times regretted confiding those thoughts with his friends. Tucker was surprised at his admission, but Sam said she had had a few suspicions after they had tried dating a few times back in their freshman year but broke it off when things just didn't feel right.

"It is a bit weird, though, Danny," Sam spoke up from doing what looked like painting her toe nails, "I mean Dash has always been a big pain and I know you're getting along fine and everything but he's asking you to go to the movies now? Maybe it is a date."

"Oh come on guys… Tucker and I sometimes went to the movies alone but that didn't make it a date. It's just two friends going to the movies together, that's it. Why would you even think Dash would lean that way anyway?"

"The fact he likes all those romantic comedies, he's hyper masculine, has to make sure that he's seen as tough and in charge, and he has a lot of issues with something he's good at that apparently no one knew about." Sam stared at him dully like it was obvious, "But then again that could all just be related to something else. I guess we shouldn't be so fast to judge him like that."

"Thank you." Danny sighed feeling exhausted about all this now, "Now that Dash's sexuality is no longer an issue and we've agreed that two same sex friends can go to a movie together and it not be a date shall we talk about something else? Preferably not ghost related either as I have a feeling that will come up more as Vlad starts to come up with a plan."

For the rest of the evening the three friends talked about various subjects. Tucker told them about some of the summer classes he was taking and Sam talked about a Goth party that was going on during a full moon on the beach nearby that looked like fun. Danny talked about how much work he got done on his bike and by the time Danny had to go to bed he felt like all was right with the world. There wasn't a ghostly entity trying to amass power to take over the Ghost Zone, Dash wasn't acting weird, he didn't have to worry about ghosts attacking his town, and there wasn't a vengeful vegetable ghost growing himself in his back yard.

The next morning Danny was up bright and early as always and started to get ready for his day. He made himself some oatmeal and got his stuff together when he thought to look out into their yard. Undergrowth was still out there planted in the ground and fast asleep. He thought it might have something to do with the fact the sun wasn't reaching him yet, but when he looked at him longer he noticed that he seemed wilted and the color didn't seem to be coming back to his body.

Taking some pity on the poor guy, Danny went over to the hose they had and dragged it over to the plant ghost before he turned it on. The weather had been fairly dry lately and if Undergrowth was going to make a faster recovery then he'd likely have to be treated like a plant and given lots of water. After a minute of watering around him Undergrowth started to wake up and look around. He spotted Danny turning off the hose and stared at him in confusion.

"Were you just watering me?"

"Well yeah, you're a plant right? So you need water and it hasn't rained in awhile so I thought I'd help you out some. If you're going to get your strength back you need as much water and nutrients as you can get right? Speaking of, I think we have some fertilizer in the shed if you want me to spread it around for your roots or if you want to eat it, maybe? I dunno I've never had to take care of a plant like you before."

"The water was enough for me," He looked away looking conflicted and then nodded his head, "Thank you for your concern."

"Ehh don't mention it, just remember to not cause any trouble until the threat is over and we'll call it even," Danny smirked and tossed a banana to the plant, "Uhh… I know you probably don't eat or at least eat like I do, but I did some research last night and I read that planting banana peels in the soil around the roots of plants can help them since they have so much potassium in them. I'll be back in a few hours, though, and Vlad might be by before then to question you some more. Either way, bye."

Danny waved goodbye to the stunned ghost and left the backyard. Undergrowth just stood there for a moment watching where the young half ghost had left. It was so surprising to him that he was treating him with such kindness that he almost didn't know what to do. He looked at the fruit he had been given and started to eat it even though he didn't really have to. The kind act left a storm of thoughts circling around in the plant ghost's mind trying to make sense of what he should feel about the half ghost that had once beaten him and was now being so kind to him.

* * *

FallingNarwhals: Sorry to hear about your car accident and how bad it apparently was. My car was totaled rolling down a steep embankment but I managed to get myself out with only some bumps and bruises. Also hate to tell you this but: sorry but it's not a date. At least that's what Danny thinks haha. The build up is slow and there will be some more action sequences before the end, but don't expect much on odd numbered chapters when I have Dash's point of view. And as always thanks for the review.


	13. A Normal Scene

Attention: I have given all the information about **if** Dash will learn Danny's secret or not, I don't mind people asking but I'd prefer it if you all waited to see what happens first. That's it, thanks for reading, and enjoy some insight to the Baxter home life.

* * *

It was another normal day for Dash. He woke up, did his normal routine, went to work at the pool, and then went home to enjoy the afternoon. What wasn't normal was when he got into the shower to clean up and get ready to go to the movies with Fenton that afternoon.

When they talked at the pool earlier they decided to get an early show and then head to Chester's for a pizza. After that Dash didn't know what they'd do but he sort of hoped Fenton wouldn't mind hanging out some more. Dash was lonely without Kwan around and bored. He realized he might be hanging around Fenton because he had no one else to really talk to, but on another level he thought that Fenton really was an Ok guy and how much praise he gave the jock about the bike design he had done had really helped his ego.

After Dash had shown his work to the other teen he had actually been on a roll with his art. He drew more and liked what he saw. He was also working faster and was thinking about maybe working on some more projects once his comic was done. It was weird, but when he thought about it, all of this was because he had been helping Fenton. Dash really hated to think about the guy as a friend because he knew that there was never going to be anything between them. He had been bullying him for too long and the idea they would be friends after Kwan came back…

"He's likely just being nice like always, pitying his bully because he has no friends to hang out with," Dash sighed and ran his hand through his hair to straighten it again as he came up to the theater thinking about getting a haircut soon.

As he looked around he spotted Fenton standing near the front looking at the movie posters that were hanging up outside. The guy had his hair tied back again and still had that bit of scuff on his face. It was crazy that this guy didn't have a girlfriend yet with how handsome he looked but now wasn't the time to think of such things.

"Hey, Fenton, didn't keep ya waiting long, did I?" He smirked as he clapped his hand onto the other's back.

"Nah, actually just got here. Had to water some plants before I came here," he chuckled like what he said was some kind of joke.

"Uhh… well ok. Let's go and get our tickets then," Dash jerked his head to the ticket booth and got out his wallet. When Fenton reached into his pocket Dash held up his hand, "I got this, don't worry."

"You sure? I have my own money and all," Fenton looked surprised at the gesture and Dash just nodded as he paid for their tickets, ignoring the look from the guy at the booth who might have gone to school with them.

Once they were inside, the pair made their way to the concessions stand and decided on just getting a couple sodas and to split a small popcorn since they'd be eating afterwards. Before Dash could get out his wallet this time though, Fenton laid out the money and smirked at him.

"You got the tickets, only fair I get the goods," He picked up his soda and the popcorn and Dash fell right behind him towards their theater.

Even though it was a Friday there weren't many people at the show, likely because it was still early. This, however, gave the two ample choice in their seating as they moved towards the center of the theater.

Dash sat down right next to Fenton and looked him over again. He was wearing his signature red spot shirt and those baggy jeans like he always seemed to. The blond on the other hand wore some khakis that fit his legs better and a simple blue polo shirt that had the top button undone.

"I heard this movie was going to be really good," Dash snapped out of his staring of Fenton's body to look him in the eye.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, lots of special effects, some pretty good actors this time, and from what I read online a pretty good plot. A lot better than the second one at least," he made a look of disgust and Dash couldn't help but agree.

"Yeah the second one was pretty awful. Kwan actually wanted to bang his head against a wall after we saw it to forget how bad it was."

"Tucker wanted to pour bleach into his ear so it would get into his brain to erase the images."

Dash tried to hold back a bark of a laugh with his hand and when Fenton asked why that was funny Dash just couldn't help but chuckle, "Just you mentioning Foley and bleach made me think of him with bleach blond hair and the image was just really funny."

The raven haired teen chuckled at that and agreed as the lights started to dim and the previews for upcoming movies started to play. During the course of the previews Fenton commented on several of the upcoming movies and said which ones looked good. Dash paid attention and whispered what he thought and hoped that it was a sign that their growing friendship would continue, even when Kwan came back.

Once the movie started the two mainly kept quiet except when something suddenly burst out and surprised the audience and they jumped a bit. It wasn't really that scary a movie but the sudden surprises did keep Dash on edge waiting to see who would be the next victim of the zombie hoard.

Fenton seemed to be enjoying the movie if the smile on his face was any indication and Dash almost tried to hold his hand that was resting on the arm rest. Unfortunately though the teen moved his hand into their diminishing bag of popcorn before he got the chance and after that he didn't have the nerve to try again.

Once the movie was over, and the credits started to roll, Dash started to get up and was surprised when something caught hold of his hand. Looking down he saw Fenton was holding it and tugged him back down. Dash was glad that it was still dark in the theater or else the light might have shown how red his face was at the moment.

"Hold on a minute, there's supposed to be a scene after the credits." Dash sat down and tried to get the rapid beating of his heart to slow down after Fenton let go of his hand. They watched as various names scrolled by on the scene before some thunder and lightning interrupted the sequence. They then saw the house where the final scene had been at and watched as some workers were going through it deciding where to start tearing it apart when something dripped down on their shoulder from above. The worker looked at in, thinking it was water or something from a busted pipe, but when he looked up a feral scream and a gruesome zombie face fell into the camera from above with its rancid mouth wide open to bite down into the worker.

It was a bit of a startling scene, but it was really good. Even the loud shriek from the zombie was great. After that the screen went black again, the credits started back up, and they left. Fenton talked about how he was glad he had read up about the movie so they could catch that. Apparently it was supposed to set the scene for the next Zombie Storm movie that they were already in the process of filming somewhere.

After dropping their drinks and popcorn in the garbage they walked out of the theater and Dash stretched out in the dimming light of the early evening. It had been a few hours since he had stood and it felt good to stretch his legs again. As they walked along the streets together Dash kept on glancing to the side as a comfortable bit of silence fell between them.

"There a reason you haven't shaved?" Dash didn't know why he asked, but the white hairs still stuck out on the black haired head.

"Oh, I just haven't felt like shaving in awhile I guess," Danny laughed a bit nervously, "Why you don't like it?"

"No, it looks good," Dash blurted out a bit too fast, "I mean it makes you look more mature and I guess a bit more rugged. When school starts back up I bet you'll have girls flocking to be your girlfriend. Especially with that bike and you being on the swim team."

"I dunno," Fenton shrugged, "I doubt any girl will want to go out with a loser like me, though without Sam and Tucker around I guess I'll have moved up from 'Loser' to 'Loner'." He chuckled softly at his joke but Dash could see a bit of hurt in his eyes.

"Don't say that, if nothing else we can hang out at school and places."

Fenton stopped and stared at Dash for a moment in surprise, "You'd… actually still hang out with me when Kwan's back and when school started up again?"

Dash looked at him and the look on his face showed that the shorter teen was actually surprised at that admission which caused a slight blush to come to Dash's features, "Well yeah. I mean you're really a lot cooler than I ever gave you credit for and it's been fun hanging out with you. After all we're friends now right? So yeah, I'd like to keep hanging out with you even when school starts back up."

Fenton gave a bright smile and nodded at the blond jock, "Thanks, Dash, I actually appreciate that more than you could know. Heh, three months ago I never would have thought that we could ever become friends, and yet here we are."

Dash chuckled and nodded. Thinking about their Junior year and how Dash had shoved Fenton into his locker on numerous times and poured some old milk over him as a prank once popped out in his mind. Other memories of how Fenton had somehow poured hot-sauce into his water at basketball practice one day and glued his hand to a doorknob another also came to mind and it seemed like this friendship at that time was beyond impossible and yet here they were.

"I guess we just needed to grow up a bit and maybe be out of the pressure of high school cliques. Either way it's nice to have a new friend." Fenton chuckled as they reached Chester's Pizzeria and went inside.

They sat down and talked for awhile about the movie, about their projects, and even about their friends. It made the whole afternoon pass by quickly as they talked and ate their pizza. Before they could really notice it had already gotten to be passed seven and they realized they had spent the last four hours together doing little more than enjoying each other's company. Normally when they had hung out they had something to do but today it had just been a do nothing afternoon and both teens actually enjoyed it.

After they were done with their own individual pies Dash ordered one for his parents. They got home early today and knowing them it would be nice to have something simple to eat.

Once the two headed to their respective homes Dash thought more about everything Fenton had told him about. The guy had been really supportive and made him want to draw more to show him, but he was still unsure about if he could do anything with what he considered to be a meager talent.

"No! I'm not going to sell myself short anymore," Dash shook his head and grunted to psych himself up, "I am good and I have room to improve but it's not just a 'meager talent'."

He sighed and walked up to his house to let himself in. Inside he saw his dad sitting on the couch looking worn out. He had changed out from his work clothes and was just sitting on their couch in some bike shorts and t-shirt. He worked for Axiom Labs working on machines doing things that went over Dash's head but made good money for his family even though the work sometimes wore him out.

"Hey, Sport, how was the movie?"

Dash set the pizza out in front of his dad on their coffee table, "It was good, dad, we went out for some pizza afterwards and thought I'd bring you and mom some. Where is she anyway?"

"Upstairs taking a bath," the blond man sighed and stretched out his body. Dash really took after his father in several regards: size and hair color being some things. The man was still in relatively good shape even though he was in his 40s with impressive arms that he stretched out over his head with a grunt, "I tell ya, kid if you ever get married to someone who works in the health care industry NEVER ask how their day was if they kick their shoes off at the front door. It will never be good news."

"Long day at the hospital?"

"Something about a man coming in bleeding from his crotch due to a chainsaw accident," Both males cringed and covered their groins at that painful imagery, "Having to change the bandages of someone who had several bed sores, something involving a lot of pus, a lot of irritable patients, and a great deal of blood and very gross sounding things."

Dash groaned and felt himself go a bit green, his mother worked as a nurse at the hospital and he had heard some horror stories in his day from her and today was sounding like one of the worse ones.

"Geeze, glad I already ate cause that really sounds- Dad what are you doing?!" The blond teen shook his head as his dad opened the pizza box and started to eat a piece.

"Ah'm eatin'," He spoke with his mouth full of the pepperoni pizza and his son looked at him in shock, "What? Just 'cause your mother had a gross day doesn't mean it has to keep me from eating."

The teen just shook his head and sat down with a huff. His father looked him over with cheese hanging down from his mouth before he slurped it up and tilted his head, "Something on your mind, Dash?"

"I was sorta thinking…" Dash gulped and rubbed the palms of his hands on his knees, "You and mom would love me no matter what I chose for a career right?"

"You'll have to be a bit less vague than that, Dash," Mr. Baxter suddenly sat up straight and looked at his son in concern, "Are you thinking about joining the forces or doing something we might find shameful?"

"No-no, nothing like that… I just," Dash took a deep breath and thought for a moment before he went on, "I have a talent that I've been using to help my friend lately and I'm thinking about pursuing it one day as a career but I'm just not sure you'd approve of it."

"Dash, before I can say anything I'm going to need to know what it is you're talking about. Now tell me, son, what kind of talent are you talking about?"

He took another deep breath and looked to the side at his father sitting beside him, "I… I'm actually been helping a friend design a motorcycle he's building and he's been making me think that maybe I could do well in some artistic field like designing cars or maybe animation."

"Dash…," Mr. Baxter looked at his son a bit dubiously like he didn't believe him.

"It's true, dad, here I'll show you." Dash jumped to his feet and ran upstairs to get his sketch pad that held all the bike designs he had done for Fenton. When he got back he handed the book to his father and sat down on the couch again as he flipped through the pages.

Mr. Baxter's eyes went wide in surprise as he looked over each page and then moved onto the next, "You drew all these by hand?" Dash nodded, "No tracing?" A shake this time, "Did you draw by something you saw or did you just draw it from what you were thinking?"

The slight smile of amazement at his talent made Dash feel a bit more confident in the conversation, "I drew them all by hand, no tracing or anything and after a bit of research drawing what a lot of bikes looked like I went to work on thinking about my friend and then trying to incorporate his style and everything so the bike would fit him. It wasn't easy and took a lot of work but he was really impressed with my designs."

"Well I have to agree… these are impressive," he looked over at Dash again though this time he had a slight frown on his face, "Why didn't you ever tell us you liked to draw or were into art, Dash?"

"I-I don't know…" the younger blond looked away embarrassed, "I guess because it just seemed so silly to me and I really didn't think it was that special. Plus I always had this fear you'd be disappointed and think it was stupid and take my sketch books and throw them out or something."

"Aww… Sport," Mr. Baxter reached around his son and pulled him into a one armed hug and rubbed at his son's arm, "So long as you remain a good person and do good with your life I'll never be disappointed in you, and I'd never throw out your books. They're very good."

Dash smiled a bit before he raised a brow, "What about mom? You said you wouldn't be disappointed, but what about her?"

"Well…" his father sighed and rolled his eyes, "You know she wants you to go to school and get into the medical field. But it's your life and after a bit of getting used to I'm sure she'll understand."

"Thanks, dad," The teen hugged his father before he collected his book and started to head towards the stairs, "Enjoy the pizza and save mom some, I'm going to do some stuff and then head onto bed, I still have lifeguarding to do in the morning."

"How's that going for you by the way?"

"I think it's turning out to be a lot better than I thought it was going to be," Dash smiled fondly before he headed up the stairs to his room. He sat down at his desk with a smile and got out a clean sheet of paper and as he stared out his window towards the backyard he just started to draw what he saw. He sketched out the trees, grass, the fence, and didn't stop until he crawled into bed with a smile on his face and the start of a landscape picture laid carefully out on his desk.

* * *

Remember how Mr. Baxter is, it will be important much later on in another story.


	14. Into the Fray

Please note: Danny doesn't have the best set of priorities.

You wanted action well here it is.

* * *

Danny groaned in frustration as he fell face first into the ground where Undergrowth had planted himself. He had spent hours last night with Vlad searching for more information on these strange ghost insects and so far no one could tell them anything and the only thing they could find was more damage that was slowly spreading. If they didn't find out what was causing all this destruction soon something bad was going to happen in the Ghost Zone and Danny feared of the consequences it would have on both their worlds.

"Still nothing on the threat, Phantom?" Danny groaned again and looked up at the ghost plant that looked like he was tending to the tree.

"Nothing. We can't find a trace of these ghost insects and no one can tell us anything. Not only that, but we keep coming across more and more damage. We're getting really concerned with it all."

"You will find them, child, one way or another. They will either find you or you will find them. Of the two I am hoping for the second one though. There is no telling what they might do with a ghost if they dragged it back to wherever they came from."

"I know, I'm just exhausted. I'm so glad that its summer so I can sleep whenever I need to and I don't need to work on homework or anything."

"Here," Undergrowth held out a strange looking blue melon like fruit that was about the size of an orange, "This is a special fruit that grows deep within the jungles of the Ghost Zone. It gives those who eat it a boost in energy. I believe it is similar to your world's coffee beans."

"Is it safe for humans?" Danny held the strange fruit curiously and examined it.

"It shouldn't be harmful to you if that's what you mean," Undergrowth huffed before going back to tending to the plant life in the back yard, "You do not need to worry, Phantom, I am a ghost of my word and will honor our deal. Besides I am far too weak to try to attack you in any way."

"It'd actually be nice if you wouldn't try to take over the world again, you know." Danny sniffed the fruit and took a small bite. He chewed it some to get an idea of the flavor and blinked in surprise. It had an odd mixture of flavors in it that he had never had before. Danny thought about it a moment and after a few more bites thought it tasted like a mix of blueberries and kiwis with a bit of lime in it for a kick. It really was tasty and he quickly ate it all.

"Why shouldn't I try to take over your miserable planet? You humans have done nothing but decimate it!" Undergrowth bellowed and tried to tower over Danny who didn't look all that impressed.

"Dude, chill out or I'll do it for you," He raised his fist as an icy blue glow surrounded it. When Undergrowth settled down he lowered his arm and sighed, "And just because people have been destroying the earth doesn't mean we're all like that. We didn't realize over the centuries the long term problems we were causing, but people are working on it, and a lot of people care about protecting the earth. Remember Sam? She's all for planting trees, growing your own food, and all that stuff. Why not help the planet if you're so concerned about it?"

The green ghost was silent for several moments as he looked at Danny. He tilted his head back and forth for a moment before he sulked back down, "Maybe you are right. Regardless though, I just wish for the threat to the Ghost Zone to pass. I am not used to feeling this weak and powerless and I do not like it."

"Then maybe you'll think twice about bullying people and ghosts who are weaker than you," Danny smirked.

"And maybe I have good news for you," Danny looked behind him and saw Vlad standing at his back door looking as composed as ever.

"Vlad? Something going on?"

"We think we might have found a lead. One of my contacts just informed me of a swarm of praying mantis ghosts tearing up a field four kilometers west of Walker's Prison."

"Great! Then let's get going! Maybe we can find out who's behind all these attacks." Danny transformed and flew through the walls and floors to his parents' lab where they were eagerly typing away on computers. A moment later Vlad was behind him floating in his creepy as ever blue skinned ghost form.

"What have we got?"

Maddie looked back with a chuckle at her son, "Eager for some action are we?" She typed some more onto a computer and pulled up a map of the Ghost Zone, "From what we can tell there's a large swarm of ghosts that are attacking an area here. The signature is almost the same as the ghosts you found last time so we're fairly sure it is the same group. Add into Vlad's information from his informants and we are almost certain that this swarm of mantises is connected to the other insects that are plaguing the Ghost Zone."

"Great, so we can go there, try to scare them off and then follow them back to wherever they're coming from. If they're attacking in swarms that means they've got to have some kind of nest, or hive, or… whatever that they are coming from, right?"

"Which is why we have created these trackers for you," Jack held up some small discs that had a stylized F on one side in green, "Toss one of these babies at a ghost and it will stick to it like glue."

"I must say I am slightly impressed, Jack, what is the range for these little devices?" Vlad picked one up and examined it carefully.

"Here in our world about 50 miles, but taking into consideration that space, gravity, and most physical laws are different in the Ghost Zone I can only guess between 1 and 50 miles," the man shrugged helplessly, "There really is no way of telling until we test it out."

"So, tag one and then hang back and let them lead us back to their nest. Got it." Danny grabbed up some equipment and started to walk to the portal.

"Oh and one more thing, sweetie." Maddie went over to one of their work stations and retrieved the Space Shredder, "Take this in case you get into trouble, the button on the bottom activates it and should be able to tear a small portal back to the real world in the Ghost Zone, and vice versa for here."

"Awesome!" Danny stared at the sword in wonder with a grin plastered across his face, "I haven't gotten to use a sword since that time Vlad stole the Infi-map"

"Stole?" Maddie shot a look at Vlad who groaned at Danny's outburst.

"Infi-map?" Jack looked at his son, wondering what that was.

"Never mind, we will be going now," Vlad shoved Danny roughly into the ghost portal and flew in after him leaving the two behind to monitor the situation.

"Honestly, Daniel did you HAVE to bring up all of that?" Vlad flew beside the young man with his arms out in front of him as Danny flew on his back beside him with the sword strapped across his back and several weapons tied to the belt around his waist.

"I didn't have to, but it was still an awesome fight." He smiled and slipped his hands behind his head as the air passed by him as he flew.

"Uhg, I wish you would grow up some, Daniel, this isn't a game and you need to take it more seriously. You also need to get a haircut and shave but that's another story."

"Oh please, so says the man with a pony tail himself in human form and a beard. But what's wrong you don't like it?" Danny stroked the now black hair on his chin thinking for a moment. He thought it gave him a bit more of a mature look but maybe he was wrong.

"Never mind that, Daniel, we're getting closer to where the swarm is supposed to be. Stay on alert."

Danny turned over and looked around, the area they were flying over seemed familiar but he was having a hard time remembering why. There were some fields and forests around and in the distance there was what looked to be a castle, but when a load roar bellowed out from their left it suddenly hit Danny where they were.

"Oh no…"

"What?" Vlad looked around expecting an attack from some direction.

"I know where we are, who these bugs are attacking, and neither is a good situation. C'MON!"

Danny flew on ahead to find a giant blue dragon blowing green fire at the mantis swarm that was flying about sucking the life from the variety of vegetation in her domain.

"LEAVE MY HOME ALONE!" Dora bellowed in her dragon form as she swung her tail and knocked many of the insects back.

"This is Dora's domain, she's like a princess or queen here I guess and when she gets really angry or upset the necklace she wears turns her into this huge dragon and goes NUTS and can't control herself. Little advice: stay out of her way and just attack everything else while trying not to destroy her home and she MIGHT not try to kill us as well."

"Do I really want to know how you know this ghost?"

"Freshman year, came through the portal, beat her up, she lost her necklace, things happened, gave it back to her, more on the story later." Danny rushed forward and started blasting several of the bugs with ghost rays and punched several more as he got in close.

Vlad followed quickly behind, duplicating himself and shooting off balls of ectoplasm at all the bugs while Dora and Danny blasted them with fire and ice respectfully. The sheer mass of insects though was far greater than the two half ghosts had initially expected and even with a giant fire breathing dragon on their side and several other armed ghosts they were starting to see this as becoming a losing battle again.

"Glad tomorrow's Sunday," Danny grunted as he blasted the field with ice causing many of the bugs to slip and fall into each other, "There's no way I'm going to be up for swimming after this!"

"We are in the middle of a fight for this domain and you are concerned about your SWIM PRACTICE?!" Vlad shouted at him as he narrowly avoided being impaled by a mantis claw.

"Hey unlike you I'm not rich and a scholarship would be a GREAT help and I'm actually good at it so lay off!" Danny shouted as he sent more ectoplasm balls at more bugs before he took a look around him and ground his teeth, "Ah the hell with this."

Danny landed down on the ground and took a deep breath and let loose his ghostly wail. Over the past few years he had learned to harness its power and not get fully drained but still it took a great deal out of him. The results though were normally worth it, especially now as the mass of insects had quickly dwindled down to less than half of what it was.

Despite being able to harness its power the attack still took a great deal of energy for Danny to use against so many. The white haired ghost couldn't stop himself from falling to his knees after using his strongest technique and Vlad had to cover him for a moment so he could catch his breath.

"Well that hardly seemed to do us any good Daniel. And you wasted all that energy on a single attack!" The older halfling growled out as he shot streams of energy at the continuing swarm.

"Hey I got a bunch of them with one shot, didn't I?" He managed to pant out as he stood back up ready to go again, "Besides their numbers are dwindling, we keep this up and maybe we can-"

A loud roar erupted from Dora and interrupted Danny. As the two half ghosts looked up they saw the ghost dragon falling to the ground after one of the ghost mantises had managed to sneak behind her and slash at her neck. The cursed necklace that she wore quickly fell and the dragon quickly reverted back to her original form of the princess of the land.

"Dora!" Danny quickly flew over to her with Vlad giving him cover. The hero helped her to stand as she leaned on him for support, "Dora, are you ok? Can you still fight?"

"I… I do not know, Danny. I have not fought this long and hard in all my life, but I shall have to try for my subjects," she started to look around for her necklace and started to panic when she couldn't find it, "Where is it?! Where did my necklace go?"

"Princess!" A new ghost carrying a large battle axe across his back and an ugly scar crossing over his left eye flew over and helped Danny hold her up, "Princess Dora, you must flee. The citizens have all been evacuated and we need to get you away from here."

"No, I will not abandon our home. I will stand and fight! Find me the amulet and I shall fight for our domain until the bitter end if I must."

"That may be sooner than you'd think, your majesty," Vlad held his fingers to his ear and nodded as he heard something, "Jack just informed me that there are more heading our way. We need to fall back and regroup before we succumb to this attack. Daniel, throw tags at the swarm as we retreat; once they fly back to their nest we can plan a surprise attack to take out whoever is behind this."

"Right," Danny reached for the tracking devices and threw them out into the fray of bugs hoping that at least one of the several small discs stuck to one of them before he turned back towards Dora, "Do you think you can fly?"

"N-No… I am sorry but I have used too much of my energy and I am very weak." She tried to remain standing but it was obvious that she was in no condition to fly.

"Take the princess and get her to safety, Half Ghost! We shall cover your flanks to give you time. Hurry!"

"Right! Vlad let's get outta here!" Danny wrapped his arm around Dora and floated up before he started to fly back to the Fenton Portal with Vlad right behind him. The three did not get very far however before slices of energy flew by them in an attempt to take them down. Turning his head as he flew Danny saw that a part of the swam had started to follow them.

"We can't lead them back to the portal, if they get out or tell the others where it is there's no telling what could happen!" Danny growled out as he shot out blasts of ice from his free hand while Vlad threw ecto blasts as they continued to fly away.

"Well we can't continue to fight here either!"

"Guess I'll just have to hope this works," Danny huffed as he pulled out the Space Shredder and turned it on. A small rip in the air appeared as he swung it through the air and Danny quickly threw Dora through it and pulled Vlad by his cape back before doing the same to him. Before he flew through the portal Danny turned around and blasted the insects with a wave of ice energy as another ectoplasm ball headed toward him. The two energies met and exploded sending Danny hurtling back through the tear right before it closed up.

The teen tumbled backwards down a hill before he landed face first into what he assumed was sand. His feet in the air quickly fell over with a soft 'thump' and he groaned at how his body had moved after the explosion. He grumbled as he lay there for a moment only to hear groans from Vlad and Dora. Slowly getting up he shook his head and whipped his face of the sand that stuck to his face before he looked around. It looked like they were in a desert somewhere but he honestly couldn't tell where.

"Hey, Vlad, just where do you think are we?" Danny looked over to see Vlad offer his hand and pull him up.

"I believe we are in Egypt, Daniel." He said with half lidded eyes and a slightly exhausted tone to his voice.

"What?! What makes you think that-" Vlad's hand on his head forced the teen to look to his right to see more of the area he hadn't noticed before, "Oh… Yeah that's a pretty big clue."

Looking out over the miles of sand, Danny saw the classical shapes of the pyramids miles away with the ever present sphinx faithfully guarding the tombs of the long lost pharaohs.

* * *

Major points to whoever can spot the reference to another show I put in here

SilverAxe: Well I certainly love my fans I'll give you that, thanks. I'm glad you like how I've developed Dash. I never really had bully issues growing up. I was made fun of and mocked but I gave as good as I got but it was never anything like what the show was like. Besides, the problem with cartoons and shows is that they often don't develop a lot of characters and you're simply stuck with one dimensional people who are very shallow and real people are complex, capable of change, and tend to have reasons for what they do.

Guest: Was that enough action for you?

FallingNarwhals:Glad you liked the build up and epic fail of the cliche "Movie moment" there. Yes, Danny is still a bit clueless about Dash's affections and all, but to be fair Dash is trying hard not to be too forthcoming about them either. The great thing about Mr. Baxter never appearing in the show is that he can be anyone to us and we can make him be whoever we want. I figure Dash comes from a good home with parents who are well off and with a strong, healthy, son I don't doubt he'd be loving towards his son and proud of his athletic accomplishments. As for coming out Dash's dad would definitely be more accepting than his wife. I just hate how when people come out in stories and such that most of the time the mother is more accepting and the dad is all "Hell no!" or "WHY?!" and I kind of hate that, it seems sexist and uses the stereotype that women are more accepting than men and that's not really anymore true than the reverse.


	15. Comic Confessions

For those of your expecting action and finding out how Danny, Vlad and Dora got back to Amity from Egypt: Sorry, try again later.

* * *

He really did not want to know. He actually desperately wanted to know but at the same time he did not want to know what caused the new cuts on Fenton's side and the large bruise that was healing over his chest. He had gone to see Fenton on Sunday to see if he wanted to hang out some more but his parents said that he had gone someplace to visit his uncle which Dash found to be strange.

'I wonder why he didn't say he was going to visit family this weekend,' he sighed as he watched the boy swim from one of the lounge chairs, 'I should ask him for his number after he's done swimming so I can call ahead first and not look like an idiot again.'

Now on Monday he hadn't seen Fenton all morning and right when his shift was about to end he came in, said hello and started to swim. He didn't know why but he stuck around even after the next lifeguard came to watch the early afternoon crowd though he seemed more interested in watching the more attractive girls that came out for some prime sunning time.

The weird bruising and cuts on his body was telling him something happened again that likely had to deal with his wacko parents' ghost hunting. Besides wanting to know if that was the case he also wanted to show Fenton some of the things he had drawn yesterday. He had spent a great deal of time the previous day drawing more images of the young man's bike and him riding it and wanted to get his opinion on his drawings.

So with that in mind he just sat on a lounge chair next to where Fenton had laid his own stuff. He hadn't had a lot of time to just soak up the summer sun so it was a good enough time to just sit back and people watch while he waited and soaked up the sun.

More people were there during the middle of the day when it got hotter. There were a lot of younger kids splashing and making noise while their parents sat on the side carefully keeping an ear out for trouble while they sat and read their books or magazines. Also lounging around the pool were several girls that he recognized from school, several of which were slathering on enough tanning oil to baste a turkey.

He didn't mind seeing them just sitting there, though, and he didn't even mind the girls that passed by him blatantly checking him out over the rims of their designer sunglasses and giggling. What was really starting to get to him were the girls that were checking Fenton out while he was darting through the water. They watched the raven haired swimmer with rapt interest in his sleek body and it took all his self control not to yell at the girls that he knew that just earlier this year they had been turning up their noses to him.

'Didn't even notice him all these years and suddenly without a shirt on and soaking wet they can't stop drooling. What a bunch of posers,' Dash huffed to himself as Fenton finally pulled himself out of the deep end and shook some of the water out of his shaggy hair. He didn't wear a swim cap today and seemed to go a bit slower, but the guy was still swimming much faster and longer than Dash could.

"Sorry," Fenton reached down to his chair for his towel and started to dry off his hair and press at his ears to get the water out, "I didn't think you'd stick around to wait on me."

"Ehh don't worry about it, I don't have anything better to do and thought we could hang out for a bit. I have some drawings I did this weekend I wanted to show you and I also wanted to see if your bike was making any progress now."

"Heh, I made a little progress this weekend but with a few things that happened I didn't have much time and only really got a basic start on the frame. It'll be a few weeks before I can get everything into place and it likely won't be until sometime in July when I can finally get everything in working order."

"Least it's better than nothing," Dash shrugged, "You ready to get outta here?" Dash stood up with his stuff in tow as he watched Fenton bend down to pick up his stuff. Dash had to force his gaze away to keep from staring at him only to see several girls watching them. Dash looked back at the other guy and sighed. He didn't show any signs that he knew he was being watched by some pretty hot girls, and taking pity on him he lightly kicked at his foot even though he desperately didn't want to.

"Fenton, are you blind or do you just not care that there are some majorly hot girls checking you out at my 9 o'clock?"

The raven haired teen looked over to his right and saw a bunch of girls looking their way and sighed, "Nah, they're just looking at you."

Dash almost wanted to groan at what little confidence the guy had, "Dude, they were watching you swim back and forth in the water and practically drooling when you got out and saw the water dripping down your body," Fenton looked up at him surprised and Dash flustered a bit, "Not that I was looking at you or anything but I did notice them looking at you when you got out."

"Still, I'm not all that interested." He packed up his towel and pulled on a shirt with a cringe. Dash could see that he was likely hurting again from something ghost related

'Unless that's just an excuse he told me and his parents actually beat him!' Dash suddenly thought and then shook his head, 'Snap out of it Dash his parents are friendly goofballs they wouldn't do that, but still why does he get so hurt and why do they let him hunt ghosts if that's what hurt him. And if he's this injured what about his parents, they're supposed to be professionals. Do they get hurt even worse than him?'

Dash rubbed at his temples, thinking like that was going to give him a migraine. Despite the fact that he doubted that he really wanted to know he just let out a sigh and looked at Fenton again, "So how'd you get hurt this time?"

"So you noticed that huh?" Danny cringed as he looked at Dash slightly ashamed.

"Kind of hard to miss a giant bruise across your chest like that," Dash rolled his eyes, "I thought you were with your uncle or something."

When he gave a confused look Dash grunted, "I stopped by yesterday to see if you wanted to hang out or something and your parents said you were with your uncle."

"Well I guess you could call him that, he's like an honorary uncle but yeah I was with him." They grabbed their stuff and started to head out. Dash saw the girls watching them as they walked by and had to hold back a snort at how they stared without any kind of discrepancy but decided to just ignore them.

"So what did you do this weekend that got you so hurt? Ghost hunting again?" Dash looked over Fenton's body like he could still see the injuries through his shirt as they walked together. It had been a pleasant morning and Dash had decided to walk to the pool that morning instead of driving his car.

"I was actually uh… helping him test out some weapons and devices and well…" Fenton cleared his throat, likely to give himself a few more seconds to think something up in Dash's opinion, "A few mishaps happened and I got hurt, but it's nothing major. If I wasn't ok I wouldn't have been allowed to come swim again today."

"You seriously need to be more careful if you're going to be doing this sort of thing, Fenton. You're going to get yourself killed if you don't look out for yourself more."

"Heh, maybe, but I try not to think too much about it." Dash wanted to ask what he meant by that but decided against it as they made their way along the streets the boys falling into an odd silence until the blond finally decided to break it.

"So what did you do this weekend with your uncle besides test weapons?"

"Oh we uh… traveled around a bit, saw an Egyptian exhibit and really just had a pretty boring day, nothing to talk about. What about you?"

Dash raised a brow at Fenton and thought for a moment that the guy was not giving him the whole story but just let it slide again, "Mainly stuck to my place, drew some more, got a few drawings done, worked some on my comics, and talked to Kwan. He's eager to get back home this week and I'm sort of eager to show him what I've been working on; and your bike too if you'll let him."

"Sure, Kwan's always been a pretty good guy even if he sometimes bullied me and others he didn't do it often. I'm glad he's coming back though, I'm sure you miss him," Fenton gave Dash a smile and his heart felt like it was melting with how warm and sincere it was, "Wait a sec… You've got a comic that you work on?"

That alone made Dash's face turn a nice shade of pink. It was one thing for him to admit to drawing and being an artist, but it was a whole other scenario to admit to drawing comics that always made him feel nerdy and childish.

"Y-Yeah I sorta have this comic that I draw but it's nothing really great. I don't post it online or anything I just do it for fun and sometimes I show Kwan and he says he likes it but I dunno…" He rubbed at his shoulder and Fenton smirked at him.

"Well this I have to see then. C'mon, we can hang out at your place for awhile before I have to head home." Dash didn't know how or why but he agreed and walked with the other teen back to his empty house.

"My room's at the top of the stairs to the right," Dash pointed up towards the second floor that over looked the living room and headed toward the kitchen, "I'll get us some sodas, Coke ok?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Fenton started to walk upstairs and Dash went to grab the drinks. He really didn't feel comfortable with showing the raven haired guy his more personal work but he had already spilled the beans so he figured he might as well get it over with. With one last sigh he trudged up the stairs and opened the door to his room to see Fenton sitting on his bed just looking around and waiting.

"Here's your drink," he handed the Coke to the boy and went to his desk to dig around his piles of papers to find something he could show without his face going red while the raven haired teen sat behind him and popped the tab to the can. Rummaging around through his notebooks Dash tried to find something that was complete and that wasn't horrible before he came across one of his better works where Danny Phantom faced off against a ghost sword that possessed its wielder into attacking people they cared for so it could drink their blood. It was actually a pretty good story and was one of his longest too. Dash had actually been quite proud when he was able to finish it before the end of sophomore year.

"Here's one of my comics, I like to think it's one of my best considering my limited experience," Dash held it out and when Fenton caught sight of the title he coughed and had to beat on his chest a few times to keep from choking.

"'Danny Phantom vs. the Ghost Sword'? You've drawn comics about Danny Phantom?" Fenton's eyes were wide in shock and surprise and Dash had to fight down the rising blush of embarrassment that was coming to his face.

"Yeah, he's a hero and I really respect him," He looked away for a moment before fixing his gaze back on the other teen, "You don't think he's some evil ghost that needs to be hunted down and experimented on do you? I know your parents are ghost hunters but I hope you have more sense than they do to see that he's a good guy and trying to do right by us!"

"Hey, whoa…" Fenton raised his hands up in defense of himself, "Calm down, I was just surprised you drew a comic about him is all. And yeah I know he's a good guy and tries to do right by the town. I don't think he's evil and my parents actually like him now a lot too. I'm sorry if what I said came out wrong I was just really surprised."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to snap," Dash rubbed at the back of his neck looking away before he sat in his desk chair, "I just get real embarrassed about my work and defensive about Phantom. I mean he's a hero but he's a kid like us so he's going to mess up a lot and I get that he might accidentally damage some property and stuff but it's not like he's doing it on purpose and if he didn't stop the other ghosts then they would likely cause even MORE trouble. Like that time with the ghost dragon or when our town was being overrun with those ghosts wearing what looked like SWAT armor and he even helped save me from a ghost that was trying to hunt him down and we got shrunk together. He's a good guy, and a hero. He's just young and inexperienced so he's going to make mistakes but that's part of what growing up is about, right?"

Fenton stared at him for a few moments and blinked making Dash feel embarrassed again by the guy in front of him, "That… was surprisingly deep coming from someone like you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He shot an angry glare as Fenton started to look at the comic he had been handed.

"Nothing," he shrugged off handedly, "It's just that you never seemed like the understanding type. Then again being a bully for years sort of left a lasting impression on me about your personality."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that, but hey we're friends now at least, right?" Despite Dash wanting to seem impartial and cool about it, he couldn't help the hopeful tone that leaked into his question.

"I guess we sort of are now," Fenton chuckled and seemed to quickly scan over the pages of the comic.

That brought a smile to Dash's face. He thought that even though they were getting along that Fenton still saw him as just a bully and that worried him because he no longer saw Fenton as just some loser. Now he saw the awesome guy that he had always been but apparently had been too blind to see for himself.

"So what do you think?" After a few minutes of pleasant silence Dash decided to see what the other thought of his comic.

"It's really not bad, Dash. I mean the plot is pretty simple and the language might be a little cheesy in places but in my honest opinion it's really good."

"Really? Thanks!" He beamed at the praise, "It was really hard work and I had to have Kwan come over to help me a lot on poses and things."

When ice blue eyes looked up at him curiously Dash took the comic and flipped to one of the pages where Phantom was holding a non-possessed sword, "See how he's holding the sword? I had to have Kwan come over several times and hold a long stick or something in certain ways so I could draw the hands and arms right. I'm telling you hands are one of the hardest things to draw and I absolutely HATE drawing them. Just glad Phantom wears simple white boots those don't take any time at all to get right."

"I wouldn't know one way or another about drawing hands or anything but I guess I can see how they'd be hard to draw."

"Man, don't get me started," Dash walked over to a book case and squatted down to pull out a few notebooks, "These here are filled with nothing BUT drawings of hands, feet, and shoes. It took me forever to get anywhere decent with any of them."

When handed the notebooks Fenton flipped through them and bit down on his lip to hold back a laugh. Some of the sketches and drawings really were pretty bad and there were a lot of harsh lines drawn through certain ones that if he hadn't been told what they were going to be he might have had a hard time figuring it out.

"It's ok to laugh I know for a fact those suck and I have no problems admitting it." Dash crossed his arms in a huff and sat back down at his desk.

"Oh man that's good 'cause I just came across this and it's hilarious," He held up one of the notebooks towards a page and Dash looked at it and groaned before he let his head fall back in frustration, "I mean what is this? An octopus?"

"I was trying out a technique I read about online that was supposed to be an easier way to draw hands and needless to say it didn't turn out that great. I got so frustrated half way trying to learn it that I just gave up, made it into a squiggly mess of shapes, and put the book away for the night."

"Well at least you got better at it," he chuckled and continued to flip through the pages to admire the work.

Reaching into one of his desk drawers Dash decided to pull out some of his other comics and placed them beside Fenton, "Here's some more to look at if you want. I've done more comics since the sword one and I think I am getting better."

"Thanks, I'll take a look at them too."

A smile crossed both teens' faces and as one started to go through the art work presented him, the other turned around and pulled out a sheet of paper. Dash had been working on his comic a lot lately and after looking at his last page where Phantom had caught up to the ghost bats that had been stealing all manner of equipment he decided to get to work on the next one.

Dash just sketched out the first few panels of where Phantom would fly into the cave the bats went into and suddenly be attacked. He figured it would be dark and he'd likely use those green energy orbs that came from his hands to light up the dark gave. While it would give him a good excuse to be a bit lazy with the drawings he thought that at the same time it would later make for some interesting lighting effects he could try out. He got so caught up in his art that after awhile he almost forgot that he wasn't alone in his room today but when he turned around he saw that Fenton had lain down on his bed and fallen asleep.

The dark haired teen had fallen back onto a pillow and his hair was mussed up around his head. The soft rise and fall of his chest that came in a slow steady rhythm was quiet and uninterrupted. He was practically dead to the world around him and Dash couldn't help but smile at him.

'Damn he looks cute just sleeping like that.' Dash chuckled and went over to pick up his art and put it away. Then almost as an afterthought he took the loose sheet he covered himself up with on warmer nights and covered the sleeping teen with it.

'I've got to stop thinking about him like this,' he sighed and stroked back the dark strands of hair that was covering Fenton's face. He had dark bags under his eyes, like he hadn't slept enough, and from how much he swam and the injuries he seemed to have gotten Dash figured he must have been exhausted.

He let his hand slide over his forehead to brush back the hair once more and then went back to his desk. He'd let him sleep for awhile, get some work done and wake him up if it started to get too late. For now though, he had drawings of evil red eyes and a teen ghost to draw out.

* * *

Long chapter, enjoy the fluff and see you next chapter.


	16. Changes, However Slight

I love Danny's ice powers, they're like a Swiss army knife: so many uses.

* * *

It had been a really long weekend. After they escaped the mantis ghosts and landed in Egypt the trio of ghosts had to get all the way back to the United States. Danny suggested that they use the Space Shredder again but Vlad thought they shouldn't risk it. Something about the tears between the two worlds that could end up sending them all over the place and making their situation worse. So as the sun rose on the desert landscape, Vlad, Dora, and Danny started to fly away from it, making their way due west for several hours until they reached the coast of Africa.

After a quick rest and a few hours getting some supplies (that they unfortunately had to steal because they had no local money) they took off again. Working their way across the ocean when they were already tired from battle was not an easy task for either of the half ghosts, despite their super human stamina. Thankfully, Danny was able to create small chunks of ice that they could rest on for a little bit before they started flying at full speed again.

It took most of Sunday to get across the Atlantic ocean and across the states to Amity Park but they eventually managed to make it back, Vlad carrying Danny in after he had finally worn himself out completely. Once inside they put the boy to bed and Vlad made his way up to a spare bedroom as well. Dora herself was not in as bad a shape as the others but was still very fatigued and only remained at Fenton Works so she could rest a bit.

After a few hours of sleep, both Danny and Vlad woke up to find the two humans chatting with the princess ghost and learning about all that had happened. Maddie had out a laptop and was typing up notes and Jack was working on a design for a new weapon all while trying to figure out what all had gone on since Saturday night.

During the battle their com links had been damaged and when they had taken the portal that lead them to Egypt their signals had been lost. For the next 16 hours they had been franticly trying to find out what had happened until Danny called them from a small gas station in Florida.

Once they had gotten some rest though, they got some Chinese takeout and sat about in the lab to discuss the battle. They had managed to tag several of the ghosts and when they activated the tracking devices they found that they were still in working order. No one was ready to go on the offensive just yet though and all were in agreement that they should take the next few days to prepare for some recon.

After that everyone decided to take the rest of the night off and Danny found himself dead asleep in bed before ten. The next day he had slept in, being too exhausted to get out of bed before nine, but his desire to do well on the swim team forced him up and at the pool before 11 to swim and let the cool waters relax his sore muscles.

This lead him to seeing Dash again and while he was happy about having someone to talk to after he had finished swimming, hearing that there were girls now checking him out was weird. One of the whole reasons he went to swim in the morning was to avoid the kids his age. What was even worse was that he had been ignored by girls his whole life and now that he was swimming and had grown a few inches they were all looking at him.

'I can't believe how shallow some girls actually are,' Danny thought after Dash had pointed out the girls that were checking him out. It didn't matter to him anymore though; he didn't want a girlfriend anymore. Not that he was looking for a boyfriend either; he just wasn't looking for a relationship. He had to deal with ghost problems too much and focus on actually making something of his life to worry about such things at this point.

'Maybe when I go to college I can find time to find someone to have a real relationship with. Would be nice I guess,' Danny sighed inwardly thinking that his ghost issues would still forever pose a problem for him in the dating world. He couldn't just tell anyone about his being half ghost, but on the other hand he couldn't just lie to people he wanted to date either. It wasn't fair and it would just make things more complicated.

It was a shame but Danny didn't let it get him down for long. When he heard that Dash worked on his own comic, Danny it instantly brightened his mood and he just had to see it for himself. He liked Dash's art and not just the bike designs he had done before. From what he saw of the one sketch book he'd shown him, Danny could tell that the blond jock had some serious skill. Even Vlad thought so and he was not one to hand out compliments easily.

Once he was in the blond's room he sat down on the bed and sighed. It was soft and felt comfortable and despite trying not to show it he still felt like he could sleep for a week.

After Dash came in and handed him his drink he almost couldn't believe his ears when he heard that Dash had made comics about him. He knew Dash was a big fan of Phantom but he never realized that he would go out of his way to draw a comic about his ghostly persona. The comics themselves were pretty awesome and Danny wished his adventures had been as interesting as most of them.

Fighting off ghost snakes, possessed swords, and fighting off monsters of all shapes and sizes sounded a lot better than fighting off a guy that wanted to hang your pelt on the wall or a nigh unstoppable ghost storm. The stories were fairly simple, Phantom would be flying along and get attacked by some big bad guy or there'd be a random person that was attacked by an underling. Then he'd go about trying to figure out the bad guy's scheme and then beat the guy.

Dash wouldn't likely win any awards for story telling any time soon but still the overall work was good. He had good details, good action sequences, and he really paid attention to the lighting and shading that came from the ghost attacks that Danny was all too familiar with. Along the third comic Danny laid down to get more comfortable but eventually the fatigue of flying over the Atlantic caught up with him and he fell asleep.

He didn't know how long he was out for, but when he woke up he smiled at a pleasant smell. He took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes to see that he had a light sheet draped over him that hadn't been there before he fell asleep. It surprised him for a second that Dash must have covered him up, but he was more surprised that it smelled so clean. He expected that, like most guys, it would be dirty and sweaty but it actually only had a slight spicy smell to it.

'Which reminds me I need to do my own laundry soon,' Danny sighed and started to sit up with a yawn stretching out his back and body with various pops and cracks.

"About time you woke up," Dash spoke up from his desk where Danny could see he had been working on more comic pages that looked like a dark scene.

"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to doze off. Guess I was just tired from my swimming,"

"And from whatever you did this weekend…" Dash smirked at him and pulled out his cell phone, "Speaking of, give me your number so I can call you next time to see if you want to hang out. I felt kind of stupid going over there and you not being there. It felt like I was saying 'Hey, Mrs. Fenton, can Danny come out to play?' when she opened the door and told me you weren't there. Kind of embarrassing."

"Yeah I guess I ca-" Danny blinked and stared at Dash with wide eyes for a moment and Dash had to lean back in surprise. The two sat there for a minute staring at each other and finally a slight blush came to Dash's cheeks.

"W-What's wrong? Why are you staring at me like that?"

"It's just… wow… I mean… You've NEVER said my first name before like that and it just sort of threw me for a loop I guess." Danny rubbed at the back of his neck feeling awkward now and could tell that what he had just said likely just embarrassed Dash as well.

"Well… I guess I should start calling you by your first name and all if we're going to be friends. I mean you call me Dash and everything, right?" Danny nodded at that with a smile, "Good, then how about your number now?"

Danny gave his number to Dash and Dash passed along his digits as well in kind. He still felt weird that he was getting along so well with his former bully but it wasn't bad. After getting up and folding the blanket he had been laying under the raven haired teen smiled.

"So am I just going to watch you draw all afternoon or you want to go do something?"

Dash shuffled some of his papers around and put them in a folder before he stood up, "Yeah, we can do something. You got an idea?"

"Well do you have any good games to play?"

"Hmm… well I don't know…," a slightly cocky smirk came to Dash's face, "You ever heard of Game Bashers?"

"Don't play with me, Dash. Did you really get Game Bashers for the Galaxy Station?" Dash merely nodded with a slight smirk and Danny almost groaned.

"Man, I've been wanting to play that for weeks but it's always checked out and I can't afford any new games until I finish my bike."

"Well then let's go play, I will even allow you the honor of being player one," he bowed like a gentleman in a teasing manner, "Should I also give you a 15 second handicap so I don't beat you too bad?"

"In your dreams, Blondie, I'll take you down no sweat."

The next hour found the boys talking trash to one another as they beat up their characters on the TV in the basement. Danny blasted Dash with his small avatars while Dash kept to the bigger and heavier guys that were harder to throw off screen. It was fun for the both of them and it reminded Danny of times when he and Tucker would just sit around and play games for hours on end. He really did miss his best friend but having Dash around was helping to alleviate some of that pain and Danny was thankful for Dash wanting to be his friend.

After awhile they switched to other games that they played while eating some chips and drinking sodas. It was like Danny was normal again. He didn't have to worry about ghosts trying to accumulate power to take over the Ghost Zone, he didn't have a ghost plant in his back yard tending to the plants and helping flowers grow, and the thought that he had a ghost princess staying at his house for the time being was not possible. Sadly though, all these things were true and, despite his best efforts, Danny knew he'd have to face those things again soon.

"DASH? You home, sport?" Danny raised his head at the masculine voice that was coming from up the stairs.

"Yeah, Dad! Be up in a sec!" Dash called out and paused the game they were on, "Guess my dad's home. C'mon up and meet him."

Danny nodded and followed him up the stairs. When they got to the living room Danny saw Mr. Baxter putting down a briefcase and starting to take off his tie and kick off his shoes. One look at the man told Danny exactly where Dash got his build and hair from. Mr. Baxter was just a bit taller than Dash but had the same bright blond hair on his head although he kept his in a much closer cut. He was also apparently in fairly good shape with wide shoulders that still went down to a trim waist. It was obvious that he still kept fit somehow if for no other reason than to maintain his health.

"Hey, dad, this is Danny Fenton, the friend I told you about who's building his own motorcycle and using a drawing of mine to build it from."

Danny raised his brow at hearing that, the way Dash had talked made it seem like his parents didn't know about their son's artistic talents. Mr. Baxter though, just smiled and shook his hand in a very firm grip.

"So you're the gear head that my son is helping, huh? Well nice to meet you and hope that bike of yours is up and running soon."

"Uh, thank you, sir." Danny blinked a bit surprised for a moment before the man stretched out and walked towards the stairs.

"Well I'm going to grab a shower and when your mom gets home what do you think about going to grab some Italian tonight? Been awhile since we all got to eat out together."

"Sure, can Danny come along?" Danny jerked back in surprise at the invitation; he really didn't expect to be invited along. He would have been just as happy going back home and maybe fixing himself some chicken for dinner, he certainly didn't expect Dash to invite him along to a family outing.

"It's fine by me, but be sure to ask your mother when she gets home, until then keep it down. I'm going to get that shower and then take a short nap before we do anything."

"Right," Dash smirked and walked back downstairs with Danny right behind him.

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Everyone thought the last chapter was cute, so thank you everyone for such kind words. We're getting close to the end here so look forward to what is left to come.


	17. Drawing Conclusions

Honestly I'm spoiling you people too much, giving you all these words put together, tsk tsk. I'm a horrible person and honestly I should take a hiatus after this chapter.

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It was Wednesday at last and Dash could hardly sit still from his look out chair. Kwan was supposed to be coming back this morning and as soon as he was done at the pool he was going over to see his friend for the first time since school had let out. It would be nice to have his old friend back, he enjoyed having Danny around and all, but Kwan was his oldest and best friend and he could go to Kwan for anything. Especially now as he could really use some advice that he obviously couldn't go to Danny for.

During dinner with his family, Danny had proven just how charming he could be. He talked with Dash's mother and took an interest in everything she said, laughing at some of the more disgusting tales she had as a nurse and being perfectly respectful towards her. His father was a bit harder to get on the good side of, but once the raven haired guy started on about engines the man fell into his charm and they all enjoyed talking about their random interests and subjects during the course of their meal.

That night was when things started to get a bit too much for Dash. When they got home, his parents had kept upstairs and watched TV, and Danny and him went downstairs to play more video games until it was late and they needed to get some sleep. Dash got out some spare pillows and blankets and let Danny take his place on the couch while he slept in the chair. He didn't mind sleeping there as much as he had fallen asleep at his desk several times before and the recliner was much more comfortable than that. For Danny it didn't take long to be claimed by dreams, but for Dash sleep did not come as easy.

He sat there watching the gentle rise and fall of Danny's chest for over half an hour before he got up and went to his room to grab a pad and pencil. With only a small amount of light he started to draw what he saw before him: the lines of Danny's face, the sharp point of his nose, the gentle features of his hair and closed eyes. Dash spent over half an hour just watching the raven haired teen sleep before him. Soon enough though, he started to grow tired and after putting his pad away he fell asleep for the night.

They both woke up around the same time and after Danny grabbed his stuff and they ate some breakfast they were off to the pool. When Dash asked what Danny had in store for the day he received some very vague stories about having to cut his swim time short today so that he could help out a cousin of his. Either way Dash had sat and watched the teen swim for about an hour before he packed up and said goodbye saying he'd call him if he had some free time to hang out later.

Even though it didn't happen, he was sort of glad afterwards that he had had the afternoon to himself. Dash spent some of his time after his shift was over downstairs in the basement area where he worked out and practiced his boxing some. Then after a nice lunch he went upstairs to try and draw some more. He wanted to work on his comic again but he found himself sketching out Danny all over a few pages.

'I have to stop thinking like this,' Dash sighed at one point and closed his notebook, 'This stupid little infatuation I have with him isn't going to do me a lick of good so you just need to stop it, Dash, and bury these feelings into the dark corners of your mind.'

The next day was much like the day before. Danny showed up and Dash said hello to him but the raven haired teen seemed a bit down. Dash didn't say much on it, but noticed that Danny wasn't swimming as fast as he had been. At times it seemed like he would just float in the water like a corpse before he'd turn onto his back and kick around like he was lost in thought. After he got out of the pool, Dash asked him if everything was alright, but the swimmer just said he was just going through some things at the moment but was fine. After that he said goodbye to Dash and told him he'd see him tomorrow, knowing that Kwan was due back today.

Dash suggested that maybe they could all grab some pizza tomorrow if Danny was free and he agreed. He knew Dash would want to hang out with his friend today and Kwan wouldn't likely want visitors after just getting back. So after agreeing to make plans for the next day Danny left Dash by himself. It wasn't nice to have to sit on that life guard's chair by himself with only a few older folks to watch swim but Dash knew he had to do it. He sat there and constantly looked at the clock trying to count down when his shift would end and he'd be free for the day. It had been so long since he had seen his friend that the time just seemed to drag by at a snail's pace.

As soon as the clock struck noon and Dash's replacement was there he left. He didn't even bother to go home to get changed out of his trunks; he was just too excited to see his friend again. As he pulled up into the Long's driveway he spotted Kwan swaying gently in a hammock they had set up in their back yard. Kwan had once told him that he liked the gentle rocking motion as he found it peaceful and that it wasn't a bad place to nap either.

"Hey!" Dash chuckled as he walked into the backyard.

"Hey yourself, Dash!" Kwan got out of his hammock and met his friend in a tight hug. They squeezed each other hard before they pat each other on the back and pulled away, "Man, it's great to see you again, and great to be home."

"Yeah it's great to have you back too; I missed getting into trouble with my best friend." Dash grinned unable to contain the joy he was feeling, "How was Cali?"

"It was pretty nice, weather was a bit dry but it wasn't really that hot where we were at. We went to San Francisco for a few days, and let me tell you… we may have ghosts, monsters attacking, and a teenage ghost superhero flying around on a near daily basis but that doesn't hold a candle to some of the freaky things I saw when I was walking around by myself one evening."

"Ehh you're just saying that because ghost attacks have become the norm for our crazy little town, but what all did you see?"

"Oh you have to see it," Kwan pulled out his cell phone and after a few moments of fiddling with it turned it around to show a buff biker guy dressed in a leather vest, jeans with leather chaps, and a bandana around his head tugging a leash attached to another buff guy who was only wearing a collar and jeans.

Dash could only stare for a moment and then looked at his friend in shock, "Where the hell did you go at night to see this?"

"Man, this sort of thing was everywhere. It was crazy. It's not my thing mind you, I'm still very much into the ladies, but I took this picture and thought you might like it," the Asian teen gave his friend a sly wink and Dash just shoved him away as his face reddened.

"It's not my thing either! I'm not into that sort of stuff."

"The leather, the collar and leash, or the gay stuff?" Kwan raised his eyebrow and Dash started to seriously debate if he should punch his friend or let his body sink into the ground.

"J-Just shut up." He turned away and tried to force down the blush that he knew was covering his face.

"Hey," a firm hand gripped onto his shoulder, "I'm just teasing you. You know I don't mean anything by it, even though you know I'm fine if you like guys. Just don't think I'm going to 'experiment' with you and I'm ok with it."

"Kwan," he sighed and shook his head, "Okay, maybe I do like guys and all, and yes you're hot and all but I'm not into you like that so enough with the jokes."

"It's all cool, man; just glad you're finally accepting things instead of just pushing them away."

"I wish I could keep pushing things away," the blond sighed and ran his hand through his hair, "You want to come over to my place? I need to change out of these shorts and then maybe we can talk about what's been going on with each other."

"Sure, let me just go tell my folks I'm leaving and I'll see ya in the car." Kwan smiled that ever present grin he always seemed to have and ran off into his house while Dash made his way back to his car. Dash couldn't stop thinking about things when Kwan talked to him no matter how much he wanted to. He wanted to take all these thoughts he had and lock them up to never see the light of day. He was starting to come to accept that he might really have leanings towards other guys, but he still hated to think of himself that way. After all the years of bullying others the thought about being different and thus, in turn, picked on and bullied because of it scared him.

He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't even realize Kwan was in the car with him until he was shaken. Kwan had a concerned look on his face as Dash looked back at him.

"You ok, Dash? I've never seen you look like that before?"

"What do you mean? How did I look?" He shook off his thoughts as he cranked up his car and pulled out of the driveway.

"You looked scared, man."

"So? We live in a town that is constantly attacked by ghosts, ghouls, and has something exploding almost weekly. You've seen me scared before, like when we were at camp and got chased by those mutant animals." He shuddered remembering that small adventure again.

"No, this was different, Dash, you looked like you were terrified to your core."

"Can we talk about this when we get to my place?" Dash sighed and let the conversation drop as he drove along the streets back to his house. Once there they were there they walked up to Dash's room where Kwan quickly made himself at home by throwing himself on his friend's bed.

"So you going to tell me what's on your mind now?" Kwan asked as he grabbed one of the sketch books that Dash had set out to see what he had been drawing lately.

"Just been thinking about what we used to do to kids that were different. If I really am… that way… well…" Dash rubbed at his shoulder unable to voice the thoughts that were going around in his head.

"Dash… man, are you actually saying you're scared of being bullied by people in school?"

"Well you've seen stories about how bad people get bullied about that stuff!"

Kwan actually rolled his eyes and shook his head, "Man… You are just about stupid. First of all, you're the biggest guy in school, second if you really do think you're that way, like I've said countless times now, you'll always have me by your side, man." He smirked and Dash gave him a slight smile.

"Maybe you're right…"

"Dash, you know I'm right! Now come on enough of this dark talk. How's things with you and Fenton going? And you been checking out any hot guys at the pool?"

"We're getting along actually, he spent the night the other night and he was actually really charming with my mom and after he brought up his bike my dad started to like him more as well, and no Kwan I haven't been checking out any hot guys at the pool," he rolled his eyes and felt exhausted at his friend's teasing, "The only hot guy that even goes to the pool that early is Danny and-"

"'Danny' now?" Kwan smiled from ear to ear and Dash wondered if his face would catch fire from the heat radiating from it, "And you do realize you just called him hot right?"

"Damn it, Kwan!" Dash turned away as Kwan laughed, "I didn't mean it that way!"

"Chill, man, I just thought I'd point it out. Guy was always a bit cute and I always thought you might have had a thing for him considering how much you picked on him."

"Was it that obvious?"

"For me it was," the Asian man shrugged, "I figured you were so totally in denial about it yourself that the only way you could express your feelings for him was through acts of violence and bullying."

"Geeze…I really have to get him out of my head, I mean I have zero chance with him."

Kwan sat back on the bed and flipped through a new notebook with a shrug, "Maybe, maybe not, but it seems like your little fanboy nature of Phantom is starting to get to you too. I mean drawing him sleeping on a couch? What's that about?"

"What are you talking about?" Kwan turned the page he was looking at to Dash who rolled his eyes and grabbed it.

"That's not Phantom, its Danny. I couldn't sleep well when he was over here and so I drew him when he was sleeping until I started to doze off."

"Oh, sorry, just looked a lot like Phantom is all, I guess you should work on differentiating faces a bit more otherwise you might confuse people with your characters."

Dash just grunted and looked at the pictures again. He hadn't done much but sketch out the shapes and everything so Danny's hair was white on the page but when he thought about it he did see how Kwan could mistake Danny for Phantom. Even if his art wasn't that great the way he'd drawn them both was very similar. After thinking a bit harder on the subject though, Dash's eyes grew wide, he had seen Phantom and drew him from what he had seen, and he had also drawn Danny from what he had seen of him. When he put the two images side by side in his mind it wasn't his lack of skill that made him draw the two faces so similar, it was because they both looked so similar.

'But how can Danny and Phantom look so much alike…? Could it have something to do with his parents' crazy experiments? Did they do something or make a ghost that looked like Danny? But why?'

Dash shook the thought from his mind and turned back to his friend who was looking at some of the drawings he had done for Danny's bike and was complimenting him. He didn't pay much attention though to what he was saying. He was too lost in his thoughts about the raven haired boy, the white haired ghost, and his apparent attraction towards the former that seemed to be growing with each passing day.

"So… uh… You want to go grab something to eat?" Kwan asked after watching his friend get lost in thought for a few moments.

"Yeah, sure, we can catch up more over some pizza at that new place." After Kwan agreed to the suggestion Dash put his sketch books up before they headed out again. Only Dash had a myriad of questions floating around his mind that he'd be sure to ask Danny the next time he saw him.

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But if I did take a hiatus that would be beyond cruel of me, especially at this point. To all of you who didn't figure out certain things this here chapter shows just why I made Dash an artist, just like why I made Danny a swimmer for the earlier chapters to work. Anyway for those who are loving this enjoy it while it lasts. There are 23 chapters to this story so we're reaching the end pretty fast here.


	18. Drawing Things Out

I should have called this chapter something with soup in it, because like a poor man's soup I am just making this last for as long as possible

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A shout and the sounds of something crunching were heard in a deserted part of the Ghost Zone. Danny kicked another hollowed out mantis shell and blasted several of the other empty husks. Another lead had gone down the drain and while Vlad said they were making progress in finding this new threat it was still nowhere near where Danny wanted to be.

When they had taken Dora home he felt his heart break at seeing her lay witness to the destruction of her kingdom. The castle was in pieces, the land was barren and lifeless, and her people had gone into hiding. While Danny helped her look for her people, Vlad went in search of her necklace.

Eventually Dora was reunited with her people who had fled to a cave structure far from her castle. Many of her guards had been injured but were being tended to and all the rest of her people were safe from harm. While their homes might have been destroyed Dora was happy that everyone had managed to escape and were, relatively, alright.

After making sure that they'd be safe and Vlad returned her necklace, the two half ghosts flew off to follow the signals of the tracers they had planted. The pair managed to track them towards the bottom of the Ghost Zone when they came across the empty shells of the mantis bugs. The insects had apparently shed their skin and seeing their only lead hit a dead end caused Danny to lose it and attack the empty husks in a rage.

"ENOUGH, DANIEL! You are only wasting your energy by destroying these husks." Vlad shouted at him after letting the boy vent out his frustrations for over 10 minutes.

"I KNOW that, Vlad, but it makes me feel better! These ghosts have us outnumbered, out powered, and are destroying realms one at a time. We're the only ones who are even trying to find them and trying to help and so far everything is just getting worse and Headliner's paper keeps saying the same thing!" He growled in frustration and blasted one final carcass to pieces before he started to calm down.

"We will find out where our enemy lies in wait, Daniel. For now, though, let us return. We have more information than we did previously and we have a general idea of where these creatures were going. We will start to gather our allies and soon be ready to charge into the fight."

That had been on Monday, and now it was Thursday. As Danny soldered more pieces of his bike together he tried to keep his mind from getting too stressed out about the upcoming battle. His parents and Vlad were stocking up on weapons and Danny had gone to the Ghost Zone last night to gather some allies together. There weren't many ghosts that were willing and able to fight but with guys like Skulker, Ember, Dora, Wulf, and a few others he hoped it would be enough.

As he sat at his work bench he tried hard to not think about how he could use more help. Even if Sam and Tucker were around he wouldn't want them to be fighting this battle with him. It was dangerous enough for him, but to ask humans along, even his friends who had been helping him fight ghosts for years, felt like too much.

Saturday was going to be the day, they would go into the Ghost Zone, find this threat at long last, and fight them back by whatever means necessary. According to Headliner their time was running out and if they allowed this threat to grow out of control then it was only a matter of time before it came to the human world and caused more trouble than they could handle here. It was enough to make Danny's skin crawl in fear and he had to put his equipment down before he ruined something. He looked up at the clock and sighed when he realized he had been working for three hours now and it was getting time to get some lunch and water Undergrowth.

Undergrowth was getting stronger and bigger with each passing day. He said that the light from the sun was actually helping balance out the nutrients he wasn't getting from the soil of the Ghost Zone. With such intense and powerful light he was healing faster than he would have in the zone. He said that he wouldn't be back to the all powerful being he was before for a long time still, but at least he would be able to fight with the others if it came down to it.

As he turned on the water that he had hooked up to pour water over the plant ghost, Danny's phone started to ring. When he looked at it he saw that it was Dash and Danny had to give a small smile. He hadn't heard from the guy yesterday since Kwan was back in town and for a little bit Danny had been concerned that Dash would push him to the side once his old friend was back in the scene. Either way he needed a break and so he answered the call.

"Hey, Dash, what's up?"

"Uh, not much really," There was a nervous tone to the Dash's voice and Danny wondered if everything was alright with him, "Listen, can we meet up and talk? I've got something that's bugging me and I need to ask you a few things."

"Uh… ok…" Danny had no idea what Dash could need to ask him, but the guy sounded stressed and worried about something. They agreed to meet at the park and after he finished watering Undergrowth he started to walk there.

It didn't take long for Danny to spot the blond teen sitting on a bench. He was just sitting there hunched over with his on his knees and looking out over the park just watching as people went about their lives. When Danny walked up to him he sat down and eyed the guy curiously. After several moments of nothing being said Danny finally decided it was time to break the awkward silence.

"What did you need to ask me about, Dash?"

Dash looked over at the dark headed teen for a moment before he turned and pulled out a notebook and showed him a page that was covered in Phantom head sketches. For a moment Danny looked at them and gulped feeling really awkward about seeing what was essentially his face all over a page. He took a slight breath though and nodded at the pictures like he was examining them with a critical eye.

"Drawings of Phantom? They look really good, but I don't get why you wanted to drag me all the way out to the park just to show me these," he pushed the sketchbook back and Dash just took it staring at him until a blush came to his cheeks and he had to look away from the blond. He wasn't sure exactly what was going on with Dash but he felt like something more was going on than he felt comfortable with. Before Danny could say anything else though, Dash had his fingers on his throat like he was checking for his pulse.

"Dash! What the hell, man?" Danny tried to jump away but Dash put his other hand on his shoulder and kept feeling his throat. After a moment he then moved his hands down to his chest and while Danny tried to keep his face from growing red he could do nothing about the pounding of his heart inside his chest.

"Uhh… Dash… You're really starting to freak me out here…" Dash pulled back and stared at the teen before him.

"So you're alive," Danny stared at him for a moment and looked at Dash like he had maybe gotten hit on the head, "So maybe Phantom is not really a ghost but he's still connected to you somehow."

"W-what? What are you talking about Dash?"

"You're connected to Phantom somehow! What happened? Was it an experiment your parents did? Did you have a twin brother that died when you were babies and your parents brought him back somehow? Are their crazy ghost obsessions the product of trying to get him back? Just what is it?"

"Dash, I have no idea what you're talking about. There's no connection between Phantom and me; he's a ghost and I'm a human. My parents might hunt ghosts but they don't try and create them or anything and I never had a brother." Danny looked around, hoping that they weren't causing a scene and was glad to see that they were mostly alone. He also hoped that whatever Dash was getting at he could easily deflect to keep his secret safe.

"Don't screw with me, Fenton!" Dash held his book back out and showed the page to Danny again, "These aren't pictures of Phantom, they're pictures of you that I drew from pictures in our yearbook!"

'Damnit!' Danny mentally cringed. Dash had caught him in a slip up and now he had no way of explaining that. Of course Phantom and Fenton looked alike they were both the same person but no one else had ever figured that out over the years and now here was Dash Baxter, who never appeared that bright, with the answer to the greatest mystery in town. Danny just stared at the larger teen who was glowering back at him.

"Well…?" Dash stared at him and swallowed like he was nervous about the answer. Danny thought about it for a moment trying to think up a story that he could pass this off on, but in the end he figured it was best just to tell him and make him swear to keep it a secret. Dash was a huge fan of Phantom anyway so it wasn't like it would be hard for him to do. He wouldn't want his hero to get hurt after all.

"Fine…" Danny brushed back his hair from his face and let it slowly come back down before he rubbed at his neck, "You sure you want the truth though? You might not like the answers."

"I think I already know more than enough that I don't like the answers to. I just need you to confirm it before it drives me nuts."

Danny looked around and stood up, "Not here, let's just go back to my place and I'll explain everything."

He got up and started to walk back towards his place with Dash right behind him. He didn't know exactly what was going on in the guy's head but he knew he had figured out enough that he wouldn't get by with a simple lie. The only way was to either create an elaborate story or actually come out and tell Dash one of his darkest secrets and hope that he could trust him.

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You know I could actually draw this out for several chapters more if I thought about it, but you'll see how Danny deals with this in the next chapter.

Also Guest reviewer: aww... poor baby... I'm sorry but summer has to end eventually...

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But Fall starts after it, doesn't it?


	19. One and the Same

Ok let me first start off by saying that after this chapter there WILL be a hiatus. I'm sorry but the next chapter is just super long and will take me awhile to edit it and. It's already written it just needs fine tuning. The story itself is done, I just have edits to work on and after this I have to work on the next idea for the next story. That all being said: enjoy the chapter here and the rest of the story. This is the second version that I fixed up after people told me I had a lot of errors and things and I hope that this reads better so I can get to the next one.

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Dash didn't know how to deal with everything that had been going through his mind after Kwan made that observation about his drawing of Danny looking like Phantom. He could barely manage a conversation with Kwan as they sat and ate the pizza that the Asian teen wanted to try. Dash had tried to talk him out of it, but Kwan insisted on wanting to try their pizza with squid tentacles, capers, garlic, and chicken. He didn't know how his friend managed to eat as much as he did but after one slice, Dash had had enough.

While they ate Kwan had carried on most of the conversation with what he did in California and all the things he saw. He asked Dash what had gone on with him while he had been away, but their town didn't have a lot of things to do and with him working every morning there wasn't a lot he could do at night. All in all Kwan had much more to say and Dash was thankful for that. Hearing his friend ramble on about the sights and seeing his family was nice and it also gave him something else to focus on for the time being.

Afterwards Kwan had to get back to his house to finish unpacking which left Dash with a lot of free time to be by himself until his parents got home and wanted to eat. He tried to draw more, but after he kept on drawing Danny's face over and over again he decided to go down to the basement and work out for awhile. He did some curls to get some blood pumping to his arms, jumped some rope for a bit of a warm up, and then tackled the punching bag. He hit it with a series of jabs and hooks all the while bouncing on his toes and trying to jump about and keep his form up. He wasn't planning on ever being the next Golden Glove and he certainly didn't know a great deal about how to box, but he knew the basics and made sure to follow them well enough so that he didn't fall into a bad form.

He worked on the bag for over an hour before he had to stop for a breather. He was covered in sweat and still the thoughts about Danny and Phantom kept circling his head. Figuring he had done enough working out for now he grabbed a towel and headed back up to his room.

The similarities between Fenton and Phantom kept plaguing his mind as he sat on his bed sipping from a glass of water. He honestly had no idea what to think about any of it but did know one thing he could at least do. Getting up he went over to his book shelf and pulled out one of his old year books and started to go through them to look for pictures of Danny. He wasn't a very popular student and wasn't in any extracurricular activities but there were still a few pictures of him.

After finding a few pictures Dash got out one of his old sketch books and started to draw Danny from what he saw. He didn't shade in the hair, though, and with each passing picture he drew the resemblance to his hero become clearer and clearer. He didn't understand what this could mean or how it was possible but he knew Danny somehow was connected to Phantom and he wanted to know how.

The next day, Dash watched Danny like a hawk as he swam for a shorter period than normal. Things were starting to come together in his mind but he still didn't have enough information to put together the whole puzzle. After he was done with his shift he went home and gathered his sketches of Danny and looked them over again while comparing them to Phantom. They looked so much like the ghost that he knew it couldn't just be his drawings that did it.

"It can't just be my drawing style…" Dash muttered to himself as he looked at two drawings side by side. He had drawn several other people before and none of them looked as similar as Phantom and Danny did.

Dash knew the only way to get to the bottom of this mystery was to talk to Danny himself and decided to call him. He asked the other teen to meet him at the park but once he got there he started to have doubts about it all. This guy was starting to be his friend and he wanted him to like him, but Dash thought if he started making wild accusations then Danny would likely never want anything more to do with him. Worse would be if he started to tell people that he was crazy, but Danny didn't seem like that kind of guy.

The fears Dash had though, didn't diminish as he talked to Danny in the park. He actually checked for a pulse and felt his heart beat to check if he was still alive. If he hadn't had other things on his mind he would have enjoyed the feel of Danny's body but he had other problems at the moment.

He knew Danny was alive but that didn't solve anything. After throwing out several crazy theories about a possible dead brother and his parents maybe doing something to bring him back he could see Danny was getting nervous and it wasn't the kind of nervous that said he was crazy. It was more like the type of nervous that he had stumbled upon something that Danny wanted to keep hidden.

After hearing that he had a choice to finally know the answers or not Dash decided that he had to know. This whole thing was driving him crazy and he needed to understand the secret connection between the Fenton Danny and the Phantom Danny.

He followed Danny back to Fenton Works where they quickly made their way up to his room. He had never been to the upstairs before or anywhere really in the Fenton home besides the family room and kitchen from the time he was being tutored by his sister and when Danny and him had hung out recently. There was also the time he had gotten shrunk with Phantom and they had to run for their lives through the house but he didn't really count that.

The room was a nice shade of blue, not dark but not like a baby blue, with posters of NASA and space on the walls along with a few from bands. Pictures of Manson and Foley were posted up around a desk where a computer was and beside it was a bulletin board with all sorts of blueprints and sticky notes on it. A pretty typical twin sized bed that hadn't been made that morning sat against the wall and by a window and against another door that Dash figured was a closet was a small dresser with a mirror over it. There were some clothes scattered about on the floor and a bit of a mess near a wastebasket with crumpled pieces of paper but otherwise the room wasn't too dirty. All together it seemed like a fairly typical room for a teenager, and not something he expected form the son of professional ghost hunters. He thought there'd be some kind of weapon laying about at the least.

"So…" Danny spoke interrupting Dash's thoughts on his room as he sat on his bed and watched him take a seat in the chair by his desk, "I guess you're not going to buy any kind of lie, and quite frankly there's no kind of story I could think up right now that would cover everything you've apparently discovered on your own."

"But, Dash," Danny spoke calmly and seriously putting a great deal on emphasis on the words he chose to speak, "Just know that this is a very big secret, Dash, and you can't tell anyone. Not Kwan, not Paulina, no one."

"Whatever you tell me in this room will never leave it." Dash gulped and watched as Danny stood up, walked up to him, and crossed his arms.

"You want to know why me and Phantom look so much alike?"

When the blond nodded a ring of light appeared around Danny's waist that quickly split to move up and down his body. As the light passed along his clothes the simple white t-shirt and jeans he had been wearing transformed into a familiar black jump suite with a stylized D in the middle. When the light passed his head Dash stared as the jet black hair become pure white and the teen's icy blue eyes became a glowing green.

"It's because we're both the same person." Danny smirked as he stood there for a moment with his arms still crossed below his emblem.

Dash's left eye twitched in shock for a moment. He had suspected something like this but after he had checked Danny's pulse he thought maybe it was something else. Now here he was sitting before the guy who he had idolized as his hero for over three years and it turned out to be the same guy he had been bullying for just as long.

After several moments of just staring at him Dash started to rub at his forehead and lean over his knees with his elbows in his legs. To say a huge bomb had been dropped into his lap would have been an understatement. He honestly had no idea how to process this; he had shoved his hero into his locker countless times before, bullied him, and made his life hell at times and yet Danny still had saved him on several occasions. He saved him from that falling tree branch not that long ago and from that ghost that tried to hunt them down like animals just off the top of his head. Dash couldn't wrap his mind around all of this and when he looked up again he saw Danny was back to being Fenton and looking at him with concern and worry written all over his face.

"Dash…?"

"Just… Wow…" Dash started to laugh and rubbed his eyes before he looked up at Danny again, "This is crazy. I've been drawing you for years and this never even crossed my mind until Kwan mistook a picture of you for Phantom."

"Yeah, well, to be fair you're the only person to actually notice the similarities between both of my forms. Everyone else just saw me change or I told them," Danny smiled as he sat back down on his bed before realizing all that Dash had said, "Wait! Kwan noticed the similarities?! Does he suspect anything?!"

"No, he just thinks I need to make faces more different from each other. He saw a picture I drew of you without having colored in your hair so it was still white. Your secret's safe, don't worry."

"Thanks, I'm glad that-," Danny jerked his head and looked at Dash suspiciously, "Wait, you drew a picture of me?"

"Uh well…" Dash blushed and he couldn't look at the guy in front of him, "Yeah it's just a silly little thing. I just wanted to try to draw you. It's nothing big." When he looked up at Danny he saw he still had his brow raised and was looking at him obviously thinking there was more to that than Dash was letting on.

"So uh, how did you end up all…," He gestured with his hand up and down over the other's body, "Like how you are?"

"I got zapped by this thing called the Ghost Portal in my parents' lab. I was inside when I accidentally turned it on and near as we can figure the ghost ectoplasm bound itself to my DNA and I developed ghost powers." Danny replied casually with a shrug as if he was talking about the weather instead of a near death experience.

"I think I'm getting a headache…," Dash rubbed at his head and let his hands pull down on his face, "So you're telling me that you've been busy fighting off the ghosts that have been attacking our town since freshman year, and you've been letting me bully you all this time?"

"Well for the most part, yeah. Though I have gotten back at you before; like shoving the frogs down your pants, the whipped cream incident in French class last year, and having all those teddy bears of yours fall from your locker, but that was it. I stopped doing that and let you do what you liked to me because well…" Danny shrugged, "It sort of didn't bother me after awhile. I mean I didn't like it and it bugged me, but I just thought you had some issues of your own to deal with and I was a convenient target for you."

"I really am sorry, I just… I had reasons that I'm working out but it didn't excuse what I did to you." Dash said somberly looking down at his feet in shame.

"Hey, we're friends now, right? So no dwelling on it." Dash looked up and gulped at the sincere smile Danny had on his face. It wasn't even fair that this guy he was crushing on could look at him like that and not know how much it meant to him.

"I guess," Dash sighed and then looked Danny in the eye, "So… what now?"

"Well you're in on the secret now, so I get to tell you about my adventures and maybe learn to help if you want." He shrugged, "Maybe you can draw some cool stories from what you see and I can help pose and be a model for you. It helps that I can float so I can pose in the air." Danny chuckled and looked down at Dash's bag, "Though speaking of, I'd really like to see this picture of me you drew that had Kwan thinking it was Phantom."

"Uhh… Maybe another time. I don't have it with me, but maybe we can just hang out here for a bit?" Dash asked nervously hoping that the other teen couldn't see the blush he had coming from his face

Another smile and a nod was the response Danny gave Dash and the blond was thankful for the subject to change. It was weird to think about, knowing that Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom were the same person but he felt it wouldn't be too hard to accept this new normal in his life. Much like how he had come to accept ghosts attacking their town every other day and the weird things that happened in his life, this was just something else that he would have to learn to live with.

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Like it? Love it? Hate it? I don't know I'm not a mind reader you have to tell me! Regardless though I'll work on the next chapter and hopefully I'll have the next chapter up before the end of the week.

(Seriously it's the longest chapter yet at over 5000 words as is, give it some time.)

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This is version 2.0 and I'd like to thank FallingNarwahls for helping me fix this up. You're awesome.


	20. The Battle

Remember kids: Friends don't let friends edit on little sleep while they are trying to do other things at the same time and are feeling last chapter is hopefully fixed up now so go back and give that a go if you want and re-review it to see if it's I need help editing sometimes and this seemed like one of them but oh well thanks for everyone pointing out the errors and hopefully this chapter won't have as many but please tell me exactly where they are if you see any so I can go back and correct it myself at some enjoy this 'll never guess what's going to happen here.

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"So now Dash knows, huh?" Tucker rubbed his head and sighed as Danny leaned back in his chair looking at a magazine.

"Yeah, he sorta figured it out and confronted me about it the other day," The raven haired teen sighed. It was Saturday and Vlad and him were going into the Ghost Zone again. This time, though, they were going with a load of weapons and a small army to back them up. It wasn't much but hopefully they'd be able to find this threat at last.

"And so you just spilled it all out, huh? Man, Sam is going to put him through the ringer when she sees him again," Danny looked at his oldest friend as he stretched back in his chair.

"It's not like he won't keep it a secret or anything, I mean he kept his own secrets for years so I'm fairly certain I can trust him."

"Whatever, man, I still say you're falling into dangerous waters here. You sure it's not just 'cause we aren't there with you anymore and you're desperate for human companionship?"

"Dude, I'm not that desperate," Danny stared at the screen flatly wishing he could smack his best friend in the head.

"I'm just kidding, man, but really I only say that 'cause I worry about you. I mean Dash seems like he's being a good guy and all but I just mainly hope that he keeps your secret."

"Thanks, Tuck, I'm sure he will and all. It's been nice having Dash around. I know we weren't friends or anything before but it's nice to have someone to hang out with again."

"And the fact he's nice and built and good looking has nothing to do with it I'm sure," The sly smirk on Tucker's face that appeared on Danny's screen made the ghostly teen now really wish he could smack his best friend.

"Sh-shut up, Tuck! It's not like that at all!" Though the blush Danny felt come to his cheeks would tell otherwise.

"Man you totally have a crush on him don't you?" Tucker laughed, "I never thought I'd see the day. Not only has my best friend figured out he digs guys but he's also got a crush on the guy that tried to make him eat his dirty underwear."

"Uhg… If ever there was a time I was glad to have ghost powers it was then," Danny sighed and tried to rebury that horrific Halloween memory deep into the dark corners of his mind.

"Tell me about it, I'm still surprised you could phase that through you since you had such trouble with your powers back then, but that's beside the point isn't it?"

"Yeah, cause there's no way Dash would ever hang out with me again if he ever found out about this stupid little crush of mine," Danny sighed and shook his head, "Ehh whatever it's getting close to 8 and I'll be heading out to battle then, tell Sam I'm sorry I missed her."

"Hey good luck, Danny, go kick some ghost butt! And, Danny?" Right as he was about to sign off Danny looked up at his friend on his computer screen, "If you really do like Dash I say go for it. I'll support you whatever you decide and I just want you to be happy, man."

"Thanks, Tuck, wish me luck," Danny winked and even though Tucker had already said it, he said it again and let Danny sign off. It was finally time to get back into the Ghost Zone. Vlad was there already along with Skulker down in the lab and as soon as the rest of their small army arrived they'd be ready to head out towards this new threat and finally take it down.

After transforming and phasing down to the lab, Danny walked over to his mom who was talking with Vlad over some weapons they had been preparing.

"Hey, mom, we about ready?" He looked around her and stared down at the wide variety of blasters, ecto-grenades, and various other weapons his parents had been building and stocking up on.

"Yes, though I still wish you'd let us go with you. I know you can handle yourself and all but you can't forget that we're experienced too." She placed her hands on her hips and gave him her patented 'mom glare' that said she was upset with him but still understood his thought process.

"I know mom, but this is going to be pretty big and I need you to be here in case things get bad. Plus," Danny looked over at a work bench and saw his father snoring softly over it, "Dad's pretty beat I think he could use the rest."

It was really true. His dad had been up working on inventions, weapons, tools, and upgrading the specter speeder for days on end. When this was all over Danny was going to have to thank his dad with a really big batch of his favorite fudge ice cream, or maybe just the fudge.

"I know, Danny, I just…" His mom walked up to him and pulled him into a tight hug which he returned in kind before she pulled back and reached up to stroke back his white hair.

"I'll be fine, mom, not the first time I've battled evil ghosts and risked my life to save the world and all that jazz. It's just another Saturday night."

She smiled and nodded as she walked back towards the weapons they had assembled for one last examination. As Danny walked followed behind her he saw a few new things that he hadn't noticed before. There was a strange container that had straps on it to carry around like a back pack and had what looked like a hose with spray nozzle coming from the top and next to it was a metal ball attached to a chain that connected to a metal rod. Danny eyed them carefully before he asked his mother for an explanation on the strange looking devices.

"When you both came back after escorting Dora back to her realm Vlad gave us a sample of the mantis ghost shell you fought thinking we could come up with a way of fighting off these strange ghost bugs. After a great deal of examination, chemical analysis, and compounding we have created the Spirit Sprayer and the Fenton Flail. The Sprayer is designed to give off a chemical that will hopefully break down the bugs. It should work a lot like the Fenton Peeler and while it won't be as powerful it has a much larger range and longer lasting effects. Just spray a mist and any ghost bugs that get in the way will be weakened. The flail will be useful for close range attacks. Much like real insects these bugs seem to have a strong outer exoskeleton that is hard to crack; the flail has energized spikes that will be able to pierce the shells and destroy them. Hopefully."

"Wow, mom, you guys have really out done yourselves this time." Danny smiled as he picked up the sprayer and put his arms through the straps to see how heavy it was.

"Well after your disaster with the Space Shredder we felt like we owed you something. We've got a lot of kinks and calculations to work out on that thing but I'm just glad that you all managed to get away, even if it was to the other side of the planet."

"It's fine, mom, you guys'll figure it out at some point. In the mean time we'll have Wulf around to help with a quick escape should we need it." Danny smirked as they heard the door bell suddenly ring upstairs, "We expecting someone?"

"No, and we don't have the time to deal with people. Daniel, go upstairs and see who it is and get rid of them. We'll be leaving as soon as the others get here."

"Ah, Vlad, charming as always," Danny rolled his eyes as he flew up the stairs to the front door. After he changed back into his human self he opened the door and blinked in surprise, "Dash? What are you doing here?"

"Sorry, I guess I should have called instead of just coming here unannounced," He awkwardly rubbed at the back of his head and seemed to avoid Danny's face, "I was sort of hoping to draw a few action scenes for my comic and was hoping you could show me some of your skills so I could sketch them out."

Danny looked at Dash and saw that he was carrying a book bag with him that was likely full of his art supplies, "Uhh… now really isn't a good time. I'm sort of about to go face down this unknown entity that is trying to destroy the Ghost Zone with a small platoon of ghosts that I'm going to lead before it can do any more damage than it already has."

Dash chuckled for a second and then looked at the serious look on the raven haired teen's face and blinked, "Oh geeze… You're serious? You're about to go off and fight something so big that you need help with it?"

"Well yeah, I just said that. Why would I lie now that you know who I really am?"

"'Cause of the way you just said it!" Dash shouted before he shook his head and ran his hand through his blond hair, "You said it like it wasn't serious and that this sort of thing happens on a daily basis for you!"

"Well it's not daily…" Danny shrugged and looked away, "But it's not like I haven't done this sort of thing before. It's really not that big a deal, just a normal part of being not normal for me."

Dash blinked in amazement and Danny stepped to the side to let him in. The blond jock dropped his bag by the sofa in their family room and then proceeded to fall back into the cushions. He rubbed at his face and then looked back up at his peer who stood before him with his arms behind him, "So you just don't protect our town from ghosts you protect that Ghost Zone place too? That's the place where the town was transported to Freshman year when all those ghosts came out and all hell broke loose?"

"Yeah, that's the place. It's a freakish world full of ghosts, ghouls, monsters, and entities the likes of which you've never seen and where physics have a whole new set of rules. I mean really not even gravity is normal there in most places."

"So… once again the guy I thought of as a loser is going to fight in a huge battle as my hero. Man, life just is never simple is it?" Dash groaned and rubbed at his face in frustration.

"Welcome to my life," Danny chuckled, "Listen Dash I know you wanted to hang out and all but I've got to get going soon."

"It's fine I just thought I could stop by. I didn't have anything else to do and Kwan's out with his family eating dinner. Maybe I'll stop by his place later and hang out with him."

Danny nodded and walked him to the door, "Sorry, but you can stop by tomorrow and I can give you the details of the fight."

"That'd be cool. Maybe around 1 and we can go get some lunch if you're up for it, or I can go get a pizza and bring it here."

"Uh, yeah sure it's a d-" Danny coughed and cleared his throat before he could embarrass himself in front of Dash, "It's a plan, sorry, little tickle in my throat." He chuckled nervously but when Dash eyed him curiously he just nodded seeming to buy the story.

Once Dash picked up his stuff and was at the door he stopped and looked back at Danny for a moment. He was about to ask if something was wrong when Dash pulled him into a tight hug. Danny stood stunned as he felt a strange warmth spread over his body and a flush come to his cheeks as he was squeezed. When he let go Dash nodded at him and Danny could almost swear that he was blushing.

"Good luck tonight, and be careful."

For a moment Danny could do nothing but stare at the blond teen in front of him before he nodded dumbly and watched him walk off. It was a weird feeling but not all together unpleasant. It made the young half ghost think for a moment about all Dash had done to him over the years and think about how much he had seemed to change for the better after their freshman year. Slowly but surely his old bully was starting to become more and more of a friend to him than he could have ever thought possible.

As he walked back downstairs he tried to push those thoughts to the side. He had a mission to accomplish and being distracted by whatever was going on with Dash and him was not going to help. Once he set foot at the bottom of the steps though he suddenly felt himself swept up into a furry embrace and had his vision grow dark as something black and fuzzy squeezed him tightly into his chest.

"Friend!"

"Yes, Wulf, 'friend', but I can't breathe," Danny grunted as the large ghost wolf-man let him go and happily licked at his face. The teen looked around and saw that several of the ghosts he had befriended over the years were in the lab getting ready and gathering the equipment that had been prepared for them.

Technus was going over all the data they had collected and was taking spare parts and weapons to form a battle suit for himself. Skulker was standing idly by against a wall ejecting each of his weapons for a short inspection before he put it away and occasionally looked over at Ember who was tuning her guitar with her eyes closed trying to get the chords to play the right note. Dora had also come back along with several of her knights ready to fight the threat that had decimated their kingdom. Johnny and Kitty had come as well and Johnny was equipping his bike with weapons and keeping his shadow far from any of the equipment.

"So I see everyone's assembled huh?" Danny looked around at the ghosts that had joined him over the years. The Box Ghost and Lunch Lady weren't coming, they had recently had their child Box Lunch and couldn't leave her just yet. It wasn't much but with him and Vlad leading the small group, Danny felt like they might stand a chance against this new buggy threat.

"Now we can gather up our equipment and head out. We have narrowed down the possible locations of these ghost bugs and it seems to be coming from the direction of Pandora's realm. We'll head in that direction and see what we can find, then spread out and regroup if necessary. No matter what though we are not coming back without more concrete evidence to what the enemy has planned at the least if not their complete defeat. Understood?" Everyone nodded at Vlad and once everyone assembled into the Specter Speeder they headed out with Danny at the controls.

While on route Vlad went over battle plans and gave out information while Danny talked about everyone going in teams. Ember, Skulker, Danny, and Vlad would be the front lines attacking their way in. Technus would hang back in case they needed to get away quickly and provide long range fire from the speeder and Johnny, Kitty, Wulf, Dora and her knights would make up the back up for the front lines protecting their rear and support. It wasn't much of an army but Danny was confident in this, especially with Ember's ability to augment a ghost's powers.

"Hey, Ember feel like a duet tonight?" Danny smirked over at her from the driver's seat to see the ghost singer fiddling with her guitar again.

"What?" Ember stared at him with wide eyed shock at hearing what she thought he was suggesting, "Are you insane, kid? The last time we tried that move you nearly blew out your throat from the power and you want to do it again!?"

Danny grimaced at the memory of when he had to help Ember fight off a strange bat like ghost monster that was trying to destroy her lair. It hadn't been an easy fight as the ghost was stronger than them both, but when Ember augmented his ghostly wail by hitting him with a blast from her guitar he was able to beat the thing. The power of the attack, however had almost been too much for his throat. He wasn't able to talk for days after that and his parents said he was lucky he didn't do any permanent damage to his vocal chords.

"Yeah, but not exactly. I've got a special move I think that can be useful here and with a power boost from you I think I can do a good bit more damage than normal."

"Hey, whatever, dipstick. Just don't come crying to me when you're bleeding ectoplasm from your mouth if it goes wrong." She huffed.

"I do hope you aren't planning something foolish Daniel," Vlad turned around to look at the younger half ghost, "You need to be careful. There's no need to take large risks as long as we watch out for any surprise attacks."

"Trust me, Vlad this is going to be a penultimate resort move. Now get ready people we're approaching the target."

As Danny flew the Speeder through Pandora's realm the passengers looked out at the territory. It looked like there had been a recent battle, but Pandora was a strong fighter with a much stronger army than most other ghosts so the damage seemed much less than Dora's. Still as they flew past, Danny could see that many of the fighters looked weary from what had likely been another bug attack.

Steeling his nerve he steered them past the realm and continued on. They suddenly spotted the bugs flying and Danny quickly pulled the speeder up to fly above them so they could see where they were flying towards. The bugs seemed to either not notice them or ignore them and after following a few of the large bugs for a bit they came across their hive. It was a giant green glowing bee hive like structure that sat in the middle of a field at the bottom of the Ghost Zone and had scores of the bugs flying in and out from various holes in it.

"That… is a BIG hive…" Danny stared wide eyed at the giant structure as he slowed their transport to a stop and let it sit in the air a large distance from it.

"I never knew something like this existed," Skulker looked at the structure and grunted, "Well we don't have to split up now, obviously, so are we going to do this?"

"We have to," Vlad started to gather some of the weapons together, "According to Headliner something bad is going to happen to the Ghost Zone and based on all that we've seen recently it stands to reason that these bugs are going to be the source of the destruction. If we can take them down now the threat will be stopped and things can get back to normal."

"Vlad's right, if nothing else these bugs have been gathering energy for something and destroying the realms of other ghosts. They have to be stopped before they cause any more damage." Danny got up and followed after Vlad to get a few weapons together.

"Everyone ready?!" Danny shouted and looked at his allies who all shouted in agreement as they started to make their way out to take down the hive.

What followed next was a maelstrom of chaos. Once Danny, Skulker, Ember, and Vlad were in position they flew at top speed to take out the bugs that were guarding the hive. After they were dealt with the other bugs noticed them and started to fly at them to start attacking. Giant hornets shot out stingers, praying mantises swiped at them with razor sharp claws, but the worst was when enormous moths came out carrying termites the size of cattle that spit acid at them. As the termites sprayed their acid the moths flapped their wings at such high speeds that the acid would break into a fine deadly mist that melted everything that it came in contact with.

"Get back!" Ember pulled out her guitar and slammed her pick down sending out a wave of energy that blew back most of the mist and kept the rest of it from getting near them. As she continued to blast the acid mist away the other three started to shoot out their own attacks to break up the deadly combination. Skulker fired various missles while the two half ghosts blasted ecto-rays at them until the moths dropped the termites or fell from the sky.

Meanwhile, Johnny flew over head on his bike and used the Specter Sprayer on the ghosts below followed by Dora and her knights. Dora flew over head in her dragon form, raining down fire upon the insects that had decimated her kingdom and her knights followed behind the flames to slash, hack, and bludgeon those that still stood. Wulf, meanwhile, went feral on the insects; biting into their claws and ripping the appendages off leaving behind stumps of bleeding green ectoplasm before tossing it aside to tear into another one. Kitty herself held onto Johnny and shot out blasts of ecto energy at anything that tried to tail the two, and for awhile it seemed like things were going their way.

That however didn't last long as Danny started to see more and more insects flying out of the hive to join the fray. Despite the growing numbers of insects though, the gathered ghosts fought with everything they had and more. Danny broke out the Fenton Flail and started to swing it around to bash several beetles along with Skulker who started to have to punch them as they were too close to safely fire missiles at. Ember and Vlad meanwhile tried to provide support from a distance but had their own problems with the smaller bugs flying at them at high speeds in small swarms.

As the battle continued the other ghosts started to become overwhelmed as well with the increase of their enemies' numbers. Despite Dora having transformed and shooting out fire that was hot enough to leave most things ash, the larger bugs seemed to shield the weaker ones from the flames while others provided long range attacks from behind their shields.

"Something's weird about all this!" Danny grunted as he slammed the flail down again and splattered open the head of what looked like a rhino beetle.

"The fact that we're losing or the fact you actually need to point that out?!" Skulker growled out and fired a small missile that tore through a mantis.

"No these things are acting WAY to coordinated. It's like someone's telling them what to do, how to move and how to act!"

"And you think that someone is the one that wants to amass power?"

"Exactly! We need to get into that hive and take down whatever leader they have in there. If we can do that I'd bet these insects won't attack us all together."

"And how do you propose to do that, Daniel?" Vlad shouted as he swooped down firing off a stream of ectoblasts to knock more of the bugs away.

"I-" A loud roar caused the three to look up just in time to see Dora start to fall and transform back to her human form. It seemed that a group of flying ants had attacked her from behind. Danny was about to fly up to catch her when the Specter Speeder came swooping down with Wulf was hanging out of the window. The ghost wolf caught her as they passed as Technus fired the guns at everything that wasn't an ally of theirs.

"That's it… this has gone on LONG ENOUGH!" Danny growled through clenched teeth, "EMBER! Ready for that duet?"

The rocker slammed a chord on her guitar which blasted a group of moths away before looking down, "Kid, you sure you want to do that?"

"We're running out of time and options, trust me."

"Alright, kid, just don't blame me if you get hurt!"

"Right, everyone fall behind me, this is something you don't want to get in the way of!" Danny flew up to stand in front of Ember and once everyone was behind him he looked back at the ghostly singer and nodded, "Hit me!"

She turned the dial on her guitar and slammed it hard sending out a blue wave of sound that hit the half ghost. The blue wave was absorbed into the teens body causing him to glow and the air around him to tense. As Danny focused for a moment he brought all the energy that he had been hit with and focused it towards his throat and looked around at all the insects that were coming at them. With a deep inhale he took in more and more air filling his lungs beyond what they had ever held to the point that he felt like they would burst from the pressure.

Finally he let out all the gathered air in a new form of his ghostly wail. While not nearly as powerful as his normal attack this one had the added benefit of combining his ice powers. Instead of the green sound waves most present were used to seeing, blue waves mixed in with tiny blue shards of ice and flew out in a wide range. As the blast of sound soared out from his mouth the insects started to slowly become coated in ice. Bit by bit they slowed down as the wail blasted across them slowly freezing them in their spots and causing those that were in the air to start to fall.

Danny kept up the attack for as long as he could and then pushed himself for even more before he finally stopped and fell to his knees. The ice and snow that formed was a sight that left those behind him speechless. Before them the entire battle scene had changed; where there was once a wasteland from the carnage of battle there was now a field of white snow blanketing the entire area. The swarms of insects stood frozen in their tracks like peaceful dynamic ice sculptures ready to spring to life at any moment. The entire area had suddenly fallen to an almost eerie silence void of sound except the panting young half ghost.

"Dang, Dipstick, just what the heck was that?" Ember looked at what Danny had done in awe as he slowly started to stand up again.

"It's a new technique I've been working on," Danny panted out trying to catch his breath, "I call it my Wailing Blizzard. I take my ice powers and combine it with my Ghostly Wail and this is the end result. Not as powerful as my normal wail but it spreads my ice powers to a larger area and add to it your amping power and this is the result. Not bad, huh?" He grinned back at the ghostly singer with a bit of cockiness to his tone.

"Impressive, whelp, I must say that this level of power makes me glad you're on our side." Skulker stood by the boy and fired a few missiles to shatter the bugs before them.

"Yes, but we still need to enter the hive and see to the main problem of whomever is behind this," Vlad strode up to stand beside Danny again, "Do you think you can continue, Daniel, or do you need to stay behind in the Speeder?"

"I'm… I'm good," Danny took a deep breath and straightened himself and slowly let it out, "Let's go, Vlad bring up the rear. Skulker you're with me. We're going to go inside and see what we can find. Ember, hang back and if you hear sounds of a fight get everyone to charge inside."

The ghosts around him agreed and the three started to fly off into the hive. Danny advanced carefully, looking around corners and down the tunnels before flying ahead with Skulker keeping an eye out at the other tunnels that snaked from the one they were in while Vlad made sure they weren't followed.

As the rounded a corner Danny suddenly pulled back and held up his arm to stop the other two. Peering around again the young ghost saw a bunch of bees building a new section of the hive. They were much smaller than the ones they had fought outside and were not paying much attention to anything around them. As they slowly passed by one of the insects caught sight of them but before an attack could be launched the bee just turned away and went about its business acting like they didn't matter.

Not wanting to start a fight if they could avoid it the three flew on passing countless other insects that continued to ignore them. Deeper and deeper they flew into the glowing green hive and still they had not encountered any resistance or been attacked by anything they had passed.

"This is weird. Why aren't they attacking us?" Danny spoke back to the others after several minutes of flying in silence.

"Perhaps they do not wish to do harm to their home unless they have to. It is odd though that they don't seem to view us as a threat anymore." Vlad spoke from the back keeping an eye on the bugs they flew past.

"Either way I think we're getting close to the middle of the hive," Skulker held up his wrist and pushed a few buttons, "My sensors are telling me we're getting close to a large room that seems to make up the center of this place."

It didn't take them long to reach the area Skulker had talked about. As they moved through one of the tunnels and saw that it was leading towards a larger area. Taking great caution they kept close to the wall until they got to the end and peered into the large chamber where insects of all types were gathered around flying, crawling, and gathering food. Plants and flowers of all shapes, sizes and colors grew along the floor and walls and the insects seemed to be cultivating them and using them for food. The trio flew out and looked around at the sights before them but saw no one else there but the bugs and a strange section of floor that was oddly void of plant life.

"Well this was unexpected." Skulker looked around confused at the lack of any hostility they were being met with.

"It seems that whoever was that was trying to amass power likely fled when Daniel unleashed his Wailing Blizzard. They also seemed to have the power to control these insects to fight for them and now that they are gone they seem to have reverted back to their normal behaviors."

While Vlad and Skulker talked, Danny looked around the area that was void of plant life and examined it with great caution. There wasn't anything behind except the soil that made up the ground but it felt slightly warm as if something had been sitting there and only just recently been removed. He looked around the edges and found scraps of casing that he couldn't identify and took some samples in hopes of getting some data on what had been there. Whatever it was that had been there was likely important and any information on it would prove useful should they come across it again.

As they made their way out of the hive, Danny kept thinking things over in his mind, trying to think what all this could have been about. The empty spot in the hive was likely at the center of all the destruction of the Ghost Zone but there was no telling what it might have been.

Once out, the ghosts piled back into the Specter Speeder and started to fly away from the battleground. Taking one last look at the ghost hive Danny shook his head of his troubled thoughts and started to fly away, unaware of the dark presence that lurked in the surrounding desolated forest around the hive.

"Soon, my queen, you shall be awakened, and we shall rule again," The ghost smiled with an evil light to his dark red eyes as he looked upon a large chrysalis, "Soon you and I shall rule the worlds again and not even that meddling ghost child and his cohorts will be able to stop us."

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So that was a thing, huh? Hope everyone liked it and sorry for the wait but like I had said this chapter was SUPER long. Nothing much else to say here, but only a little bit left now. Enjoy this while it lasts because I haven't even started on the next story yet, and have very few ideas on what to write in the next one.


	21. A Best Friend Will

*sighs and puts earplugs in my ears to block out the inevitable screaming that will come from people when they read this chapter*

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All night Dash had been nervous about what he had learned. Danny was going off to fight off a huge threat to that Ghost Zone place and from what little he learned it was a pretty bad situation. He had wanted to work on his comic more but after hearing all that he couldn't actually focus enough to draw anything decent. He thought about going over to hang out with Kwan but with everything that was going on he knew his friend would ask questions about how he was acting that he couldn't honestly answer and he didn't want that. So Dash did the only thing he could do: he worked out on his punching bag, lifted weights, and played some video games to try and distract himself.

The next day couldn't come soon enough for the young man; he got up, ate breakfast, took a jog, and watched the clock. Time seemed to hate him as he nervously waited for 1 o'clock to roll around. He didn't know how the battle last night went and he actually feared that Danny might have gotten seriously hurt.

Finally when it was 12:30 he grabbed some of his stuff and headed out the door. Choosing to walk towards his place Dash tried to calm himself thinking about what could have possibly happened that made Danny need to ask for help. From what the jock could tell, Phantom had always been pretty strong and it seemed like there was nothing that he couldn't handle. If what he had said was true though then whatever had happened must have been bigger than what Dash could have imagined.

Finally arriving at Fenton Works, the blond walked up to the front door when he heard something coming from behind the house. Thinking it was likely Danny he went around and had to cover his mouth to keep from screaming at what he saw. Standing in the back yard partially hidden amongst the few trees they had was a strange glowing plant like thing with red eyes and a beak talking to Danny. The jock just stood there in wide eyed shock before the creature took notice of him and looked at him. Danny turned around to see what the thing was looking at and smiled before motioning Dash towards them.

"Hey, Dash," Danny smiled once he got closer, "This is Undergrowth, he's staying here for awhile to recuperate from his home being attacked. He's a ghost who can control plants."

The blond stared dumbfounded at the sight of the ghost before him. He looked menacing with the spikes on his shoulder and the glare from his eyes, but if Danny wasn't afraid of him then maybe he wasn't an evil ghost like so many others they'd seen over the years.

"Um… pleased to meet you, I guess." He held out his hand hesitantly unsure if he should shake the claw like hands the ghost had or not.

"Is he one of those humans who would cut down and pillage forests for their own selfish needs, or is he like that Goth girl who I had chosen to help take care of my garden when I tried to take over the world?"

That sent off warning bells in the jock's mind and he instantly pulled his arm back in terror. This guy had tried to take over the world and now Danny was just standing there talking to him.

"You know there's more than two types of people, Undergrowth, but Dash here's a good guy. Anyway I just wanted to keep you updated and make sure you're doing ok. I'll be back to water you later."

"Very well," with that the ghost crossed his arms and closed his eyes as the sun shined down on him. As Danny started to walk back to his house Dash quickly followed behind, not caring too much for the ghost behind him.

"Sorry about him, he's kind of a jerk and doesn't like humans too much. He doesn't like that many ghosts either from what I've seen but who knows."

"And you're friends with that guy?" Dash looked back one last time before they entered the house, "He tried to take over the world and he seems like a bit of a jerk."

"Well to be fair most ghosts are like that as are a lot of people," the ghost boy smiled back with a knowing grin that made Dash scratch at the back of his head in embarrassment, "I tend to find first impressions of people are wrong, but Undergrowth is slowly coming to realize that not all humans are jerks out to destroy the earth and a lot want to preserve it so if he learns from this maybe he can be a good guy one day and haunt a rain forest somewhere."

"If you say so. But how was last night? I mean you look alright and all but I have no idea about what happened and you could have a huge bruise or wound under your shirt or something."

"Nah I'm fine," The pair walked into Danny's room and he took off his winkled shirt and showed his bare flesh to him, "Not a new bruise or wound to be seen, see?"

Dash did see, and what he saw he almost couldn't look away from. The definition of his torso combined with the few lingering scabs and bruises from earlier battles brought out the look of a warrior in the young man. Letting his eyes glaze over his body Dash saw the abs that were developing on Danny's stomach. Between his time at the pool and his time hunting ghosts it seemed that Danny had gotten quite a nice looking body, and now up close and having it shown to him, the blond was having a hard time looking away.

"Dash?" The jock shook his head and looked up to the blue eyes of the teen before him, "You ok? I asked if you wanted to sit down while I take a quick shower and then we can talk if you want."

"Uh, yeah sure, go on ahead. I'll just sit and look through my sketches some." Dash turned away quickly before Danny left for his shower and went to sit on his bed. He took out a few notebooks and started to go through them one at a time, examining his work and trying to figure out ways to do it better. It didn't take long for the youth to get so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't hear when Danny came back, towel around his waist while drying his hair with another.

When he looked up he had to gulp at the still slightly damp skin that he saw as it was slowly covered again by boxers and then a pair of baggy shorts and a shirt. These feelings that Dash kept having come up on him were starting to drive him crazy and he felt that if he didn't get a handle on them soon he'd really screw things up with Danny.

"Sorry about making you wait and all, Dash, but it was a crazy night and I slept in 'til about 11 today and then I had to go give Undergrowth a report that the immediate threat is over." He sighed and sat at his desk before shaking out his hair and trying to push it back into some semblance of order.

"Right… you mentioned something about going off into that Ghost Zone place and having to fight off some invasion or something. Mind going into some details about that?"

"Yeah, sure." And for the next half hour Danny recounted the entire adventure he had been going through since meeting Headliner up until the part where they got back late last night.

"And that was it, the bugs have all stopped attacking everyone and whatever was there likely controlling them is gone. Add to the fact Headliner's paper has changed to show a mass of portals opening up between the worlds because of some planet being in retrograde or something I'd chalk it up as a win for now," he shrugged.

"Wow… well after all that the least I think you deserve is a good lunch. C'mon it'll be my treat." Dash smiled and stood up trying to keep an even face about his growing feelings for his new friend.

After slipping on his shoes, the duo headed off. Danny felt like going to the chicken franchise they had in town today instead of pizza and so after walking the couple blocks there they walked in ready to eat. As they stood in line looking over the menu though a sudden voice caused them to turn their heads.

"Dash? Fenton? Hey you guys!" The two teens turned to see a familiar Asian jock walking up to them with his signature big grin across his face.

"Kwan?" Dash smiled as his friend walked up to them, "What are you doing here?"

"Came here to get something to eat, duh. Felt like getting some chicken for lunch and then maybe heading to the mall for a bit. Mainly just killing time, ya'know?"

"Yeah, we just came here to grab a bite to eat and then head back to Danny's place and hang out or something." Dash tried to be casual about what he was saying but he caught a sly grin on Kwan's face that could only mean trouble.

"Oh well then, mind if I join you guys? After all I haven't seen Fenton here all summer and I want to hear a bit about this bike he's building."

Dash wanted to object to Kwan inviting himself over but he really had no good reason to dismiss his friend other than the teasing he'd get later. So resigning himself to being subtly teased he agreed and they all placed their orders before grabbing their drinks and sitting down to wait for the food to be ready. As they waited Kwan started to talk with Danny about all that he'd been doing, how his swimming was going, how his bike was turning out, and showed a lot more interest in him than Dash thought he should have. It wasn't like he was doing anything wrong, but Dash wouldn't have called the way Kwan was hanging onto every word Danny said 'right' either.

When their order was finally called Dash was the one who was sent to get it for them all. He had thought his friend would come up with him but he just asked for some napkins and continued to listen to Danny talk about finally getting ready to get the engine onto his bike.

By the time he got back with their food, condiments, and napkins Kwan had his arm on Danny's shoulder and was laughing about something the smaller teen had apparently said. He tried not to let it get to him as they both seemed to be at ease with the gesture but it still irked him in a bad way, though he tried not to show it. Once he sat their food down they started to eat and talk some more about what had been happening in their respective lives. Dash knew that Danny was censoring his summer vacation activities because of Phantom but there was still enough for Kwan to comment on.

Through it all, though, Kwan kept on paying more and more attention to Danny and though the raven haired teen didn't seem to realize it, Dash could see that Kwan was flirting with him. He didn't know what was going on in his friend's head but by the time they were almost done with their food he was about to blow his stack.

"So how about I come over and see this bike of yours?" Kwan leaned against Danny almost putting his arm around the smaller man after he finished off his lunch. Danny gave a small smile while looking a bit uncomfortable but before he could reply Dash slammed his fists on their table and stood up.

"Kwan, can we talk?" Not waiting for a reply he grabbed hold of his friend and dragged him outside where they wouldn't be heard.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, man?" Dash shoved his friend against the side of the restaurant.

"Nothing," the sly grin on his face however spoke of something that was anything but, "I just figured if you're not going to put your moves on him or ask him out then maybe I would."

"But you're not even gay or bi, Kwan!" Dash felt his temper getting the best of him now and he didn't know why his best friend was suddenly acting like this.

"Well you know what they say: what's good for the goose is good for the gander. I figure I try things out with him and maybe I might just end up liking it."

"Kwan, I'm warning you back off," Dash growled out suddenly feeling tense and on edge.

"What's wrong?" Kwan chuckled and leaned against the wall, "I thought you didn't even like him? I mean if you don't then you shouldn't mind if I can see if I can score with the lil' guy, right? I mean he does have a cute little butt."

Dash couldn't control his fist as it connected with his friend's stomach. He couldn't even talk he was so upset with what he had said. Barely able to even think through his anger Dash stomped back inside to where Danny was sitting, grabbed his hand and pulled him along to walk out with him. Of all the things he was feeling the first things to come through the cloud of fury was a sense of betrayal and feelings of protection. Dash just couldn't let Kwan mess around with Danny like that and he wouldn't either if he could help it.

"Dash, what's going on? What happened to Kwan?" Danny looked up at the blond as he was pulled along.

"Nothing, he was just being stupid and nosey and stuff." Dash huffed as he continued to pull the shorter teen back to his house.

"What kind of 'stuff'?"

"It's nothing, don't worry about it." The blond nervously bit his lip as they walked across a street, Fenton Works only another block away.

"Dash… Whatever it was that Kwan said or did was enough to obviously upset you. C'mon tell me I thought you guys were friends and I want to be able to help if you two had a fight."

"He said he wanted to ask you out, ok?" A blush came to the jock's face as he pulled his hand back. He couldn't even turn his head around to look at Danny after his outburst; saying it aloud made it all sound so silly.

"Oh, was that it?" Dash turned around, surprised at the uncaring tone of his voice like it was nothing, "Well if he was serious about asking me on a date I guess it couldn't hurt, unless…" This time Danny looked up into Dash's face, "Do you have a problem with that?"

He wanted to say no, but the jock couldn't stop the blush that came to his face. He tried to hold his tongue from saying anything but he shook with so much tension that it had to come out.

"Yes! Yes, I have a problem with that! Kwan's not like that! I've known the guy for years and he's never been into guys like that I don't even know what's going through his head thinking of asking you out when I know he's not interested! And what's worse is that I've been wanting to ask you out but I know you'd never consider dating a guy who used to bully you and make your life hell and just… GAH!" Dash couldn't look at the smaller teen anymore and turned away. His face felt like it was on fire and he couldn't bear to look at how Danny had taken the news. He just stood there waiting for the rejection to finally come and to hear that he never wanted to talk to him again or something else as stupid.

"Well what if I told you I wanted to ask you out too?" Dash spun his head around and stared at Danny in amazement. He looked a bit flustered and slightly embarrassed but nothing along the line Dash was feeling now.

"Y-You wanted to ask me out?!" The raven haired teen just nodded with a slight grin spreading across his face.

"Yeah, I mean you've been really cool lately and it's been nice hanging around with you and all at the pool and the garage, and I gotta tell ya having someone know my secret is really a huge load off my shoulders. I mean now that you know I can be honest with you if I have to suddenly run off in the middle of a date and not have to make up some outrageous lie."

The blond couldn't move from what he had just heard. He looked at him for a moment more before he reached up to scratch at the back of his head. He felt nervous now and the small crocked smile that Danny had on his face was making a warm feeling bubble up in his chest at prospects of things to come.

"So…," Danny tilted his head and started to take the lead back to his place, "Are you going to ask me out or do I have to here?"

Dash smiled as he took the next few steps to join Danny feeling a huge weight lift off his shoulders. After all his fears and doubts all it took was his best friend pushing a few of his buttons to get the courage to do what he wanted.

"Okay… so Danny," Dash stood before the other and rubbed his neck nervously, "You wanna go out with me Friday night? Catch a movie and get some dinner? Like a date?"

"Sure, Dash I'd love to." Danny chuckled and Dash didn't even try to fight the blush that came to his face at how cute he found that sound to be now.

As they made the rest of their way towards Danny's house, Dash suddenly felt his phone vibrate telling him that he had a text message. Pulling it out he read the message and rolled his eyes at what it said.

'So did you ask him out and did he say yes or what?' –Kwan

Dash just chuckled and typed 'yes' before he pocketed his phone again, smiling at his friend's antics.

* * *

...Will _**make**_ you go for it.

Ok so I hope this chapter works well this time. It seems that something here has been causing my documents to not copy over right and that's causing a few errors so hope this reads fine. If not just tell me and I'll fix it... Again...


	22. Duet

*plugs ears again for more screaming* Only one more chapter after this, people, enjoy it while it lasts.

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"So you're really going out with a guy?" Danny pulled his head back from under his bike to stare up at Johnny who was helping him out with some parts.

"Yes, Johnny, why is that so difficult for you to understand?"

"I'm from another time, kid, back when I was alive doing things like that got you beat up and left in a ditch and no one would care. Didn't see it happen personally but you always heard stories like that and you certainly never saw two guys going out as anything more than friends."

"Well it's a new millennium and a lot's changed for the better. Can you hand me that wrench please?"

Johnny handed the young half ghost his wrench and mulled over things for a moment, "But I got a question for ya: how do two dudes even 'do it' anyway? I mean neither of you have the right equipment to 'reciprocate' if you know what I mean."

A bang followed by a string of angry muttering came from below the motorcycle before Danny pulled himself out to glare at the older ghost, "Firstly, I don't plan on 'doing it' with Dash any time soon, secondly I'm not sure how experienced or creative you are with sex but there's a lot you can do besides how I'm sure you're thinking." Danny grumbled and then went back under his bike to fiddle with a few parts.

"Kitty never complained before," Johnny shrugged and Danny fought down the blush at how open he was being with his apparent sex life.

"We're just going out to a movie and getting some dinner, that's it. It'll be a nice time and hopefully nothing ghost related will interrupt it or any kind of fighting at all."

"Doubt you'll be seeing many ghosts around here for awhile. After that whole bug invasion thing most ghosts are working towards restoring everything. It'll be awhile before things get back to normal."

"Yeah I figured, Undergrowth says his territory is pretty much worthless thanks to those insects but he'll be going from there and back here for the next few months trying to restore it bit by bit. Said something about growing weeds and brush there and then asking someone to burn it or something… I dunno," Danny pulled himself back out from under the bike and smiled as he looked it over. It was really coming along and it wouldn't be much longer before he'd be able to ride it. Just a few more things to do and it would be ready. Then all he had to do was paint it and he'd be done.

"She's almost ready to ride, huh, squirt?" Johnny stood by the young man's side looking over the bike with an approving eye.

"Yep, and I think this is a good place for me to stop for the night," Danny grinned and wiped his hands on a dirty grease towel, "I've gotta get ready for my date tonight."

That got an eye roll from the older ghost albeit an amused one. He ruffled the shaggy haired Halfling before saying goodbye and floated off to his own devices. It was 5 o'clock now and Danny still had to shower and trim up some. As he walked into the shower he looked over his face and scratched at the hairs he had on his chin and around his face. It wasn't like he was trying to grow a beard or anything but he hadn't been shaving lately and the thought to clean up sounded like a good idea for a date.

He quickly shaved off the black hairs along the side of his face but left the paler hairs on his chin to give him a look of maturity. It wasn't much but he decided he liked the look and quickly got in the shower to clean up.

Once cleaned up and after going through his closet for some half-decent clothes Danny got himself dressed and ran downstairs. He said goodbye to his parents down in the lab, where they were fiddling with something else again, and then changed into Phantom to fly out of the house towards Dash's street. Checking his phone for the time he saw that he was still a bit early but hoped Dash wouldn't mind. He flew behind an alley and after quickly looking around for prying eyes he changed back to normal and walked up to his date's front door. After he rang the doorbell he stood back and waited for a moment, hoping that he looked good enough for this date.

"Oh hello, Danny," a pleasant voice called out once the door was open and Danny smiled at the female it came from.

"Hello, Mrs. Baxter, Dash ready to head out?"

"I think he is; he's been in his room all day. Honestly the boy has been acting funny all week." She turned her gaze onto Danny and looked him over, "You two aren't going out behind our backs to do something unscrupulous with a couple of girls are you?"

Danny blushed at that and looked down at his feet, "Course not, ma'am, we're just going to catch a movie and some dinner is all. You know just hang out 'cause we've got nothing else to do."

She gave him another look over like she almost didn't believe him before she nodded and stepped aside to let him in, "Well I suppose you're trustworthy enough. At least you're more normal than your parents are so I know you won't get my son into any kind of ghost trouble."

"R-right…" Danny gave a nervous smile as Mrs. Baxter called up to her son. After a quick confirmation that he heard her, Danny caught the sound of footsteps from up the stairs and looked up to see Dash coming down.

"Hey, Dan, sorry, I didn't hear ya." Dash waved and kissed his mother on the cheek not noticing how Danny had tensed up, "Bye, mom, I'll be home by midnight."

The blond grabbed his keys and the pair left the house to walk towards Dash's car parked in the driveway. He was smiling happily at the pleasant weather and the thought of going on a date tonight so much that he didn't notice the silence in the air. Once they were in the car, though, Dash looked over to see the smaller teen frowning and seemingly lost in thought.

"Danny? Everything ok there?" He leaned towards him to see if he was ok, and Danny just gave a small sad smile.

"Y-yeah… I just… don't like being called 'Dan' is all."

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know," Dash carefully put his hand on Danny's knee and looked at him concerned, "Can I ask why?"

"It's a long and complicated story, and I'll tell you one day; just not tonight," he took hold of Dash's hand and gave it a firm squeeze, "This is supposed to be our first date and I'd rather not make it awkward and depressing by bringing up such a dark memory."

"I suppose that's fair," Dash smiled softly as he started the car and backed up and pulled into the street. He drove for a few minutes before he noticed Danny looking at him nervously, "You ok?"

"Uh… yeah but… I was just wondering if your parents knew… like… that you're going on a date with a guy and all that." A blush came to the raven haired teen's face and he looked away feeling like he shouldn't have voiced such a question.

"No…" the blond sighed as he kept looking ahead as he drove, "My mom… she's a nice enough person but she has… issues with people that are a bit outside the norm and I'm not sure how she'd feel if I told her I was gay and dating the son of 'those crazy ghost hunting weirdoes'. I'm pretty sure she'd freak out."

Danny nodded and looked over at Dash, "Yeah, I kind of gathered that from the way she talked."

"Hey, don't worry about her," Danny looked over to see the jock glancing over to give him a big sincere grin, "I like you and if or when the times comes to tell her about everything I'll figure out a way. She might not like it but this is my life, my choice, and if being with you makes me happy that's all that should matter. Not what your parents do, not the fact we're both guys, just the fact that you make me happy."

That statement brought a smile to the young half-ghost's face and he nodded at that. He said that was a good way to think of things and that even though he hadn't told his parents yet he was sure they'd accept this part of him. They had already accepted the fact that he was half-ghost so the fact that he liked guys shouldn't be that much more of an issue he thought.

"How does that even work?" Dash asked as they finally sat down in the theater with a couple drinks and a popcorn between them, "The whole 'half-ghost' thing? I mean does that make you half-dead or something?"

Danny laughed at the shocked and morbidly confused look on the jock's face and shook his head as he took his seat next to him, "No, that's just what the ghosts call me. My parents have done dozens of tests on my blood, cells, body, brain waves, heart rhythms and so on and the closest thing they've been able to determine is that I still have human DNA but it has been coated in ectoplasm and ghost energy giving me ghost like attributes and powers and altering a bit of my physiology."

Dash stared wide eyed at the explanation and then blinked at him stupidly. Danny just chuckled and shrugged, "It's like Spider-Man, sure he was bitten by a radioactive spider and given spider powers but that didn't make him 'half spider' but it did alter his body and DNA so he could have all those powers."

The jock pursed his lips to the side at hearing that before he nodded, "Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

After that the teens sat back to enjoy the movie. It was an action packed blockbuster that had a good plot as well as plenty of explosions and action. During parts of it Danny kept seeing Dash from the corner of his eye make abortive movements like he was trying to think about what he wanted to do but was unable to do so. Taking pity on the guy Danny yawned and stretched out his own arm and put it around Dash's shoulder. It was a bit weird as the guy had a few inches on him still and outweighed him by a decent amount but he could still feel a bit of tension relax in the jock's shoulders. A moment later he felt his date's other arm wrap around him and placed with a more assured confidence on his own shoulder.

The two young men stayed like that through the rest of the movie. The intimate warmth relaxed them and they sat through the movie eating the popcorn and whispering between each other. It was a comfortable atmosphere that settled between them and they both almost regretted when the movie ended and they had to separate from each other.

Once outside Danny stretched his arms above his head and popped various joints in his back before looking back at his date. Dash was fishing around in his pockets for his keys while they walked towards his car and hadn't said anything since they got out.

"So what did you think of the movie?"

"It was pretty good I guess," Dash glanced over at him with a smile on his face, "Not 'buy the DVD the moment it comes out' good, but I wouldn't mind renting it again I suppose."

"Yeah the plot was kind of simple and fast but it did have some pretty awesome action sequences and special effects."

The pair talked about the movie as they made their way to Chester's again. It was a nice place and both young men felt that it had the right atmosphere for a first date.

"So how's your bike going now that the threat in the Zone is handled?" Dash asked after they had placed their order and he fiddled with his straw.

"Actually a lot faster now that I don't have to worry about this threat for now," Danny sighed out wondering more about things, "Still feels like something's off but for the moment everything is ok with the ghosts so until something else happens I really don't have any real choice but to wait around and hope the situation has been dealt with. Some of my allies are on alert and will contact me if anything happens but after that fight I'm sure whatever it was that started the whole thing will be taking some time to recuperate. How's your comic and art going?"

"Heh," Dash's cheeks took on a bit of a rosy color and he rubbed at his nose a bit, "Actually almost finished with it, it's not the best story or anything but I think my style and skills are improving. I hope you like how I've drawn you in it too and you don't mind the cheesy dialogue."

"I'm sure whatever you've drawn and wrote will look great," Danny gave his best reassuring smile and reached over to take his hand. It wasn't much of a gesture but it was comforting and sweet and they both enjoyed the feeling as Dash slowly turned his hand around so both palms were facing.

"So when do you think your bike will actually be done, and do you have anyone to paint it for you like I drew it for you?"

"My parents actually know a guy who does some automotive painting and have offered to have him paint it for me if I can afford the paint. They're really proud of all that I've managed pretty much on my own and if I can continue at the rate I'm going…" Danny thought about the few things he still had to do to get the whole thing street ready, "I guess I should have it completely done sometime early July."

"That's awesome!" Dash grinned and Danny felt a light tightness in his chest from the sincere smile that graced the jock's features, "Hey you think I could maybe watch the guy paint your bike and see if I can help any? It'd be kind of cool to learn how to do something like this and maybe…," he shrugged, "Next time you need something painted I could do it for you."

"You'd have to ask him about it but if he doesn't have a problem with it I'm sure it'd be fine. He might even hire you for some work if you show as much talent painting cars and bikes as you do drawing."

The pair continued to talk while they waited for their meal and continued after it arrived. Topics ranged from their normal activities to what was going on in their friends' lives. Danny talked about how Sam and Tucker were adjusting to living in their new places and Dash entertained him with some stories Kwan had told him about his trip to California. Talks of comic books, video games, movies, and much more was discussed with Dash expressing interest in seeing a family movie that was coming out, which surprised the teen before him.

"I'm a big fan of the studio's work. They do a lot of great movies with CGI and their plots are really great too. I don't care if people say cartoons are for kids I still like the details and stories they make up for everything," the blond blushed feeling like he had to defend himself only for Danny to hold up his hands.

"No, I wasn't making fun of you or anything I was just really surprised was all. Not many people our age still want to go to those sorts of things, but ya'know…," he shrugged, "If you want to go I suppose we can make it another date."

"Oh." Dash rubbed at his neck awkwardly feeling bad that he blew up like that but then smiled slyly at what Danny had said, "'Another date' huh? We haven't even finished the first one and already thinking there's going to be more?"

"I think this one has gone fair enough to warrant another, and besides…" Danny smiled shyly up at Dash brushing his hair back so that he could see the jock before him, "I really am starting to like you a lot, Dash, and the fact you're so cool about my secret really helps. I mean I used to always be afraid of never being able to date anyone because of my 'ghostly duties' and all, but with you already in on it I can be honest with you about things and I don't have to lie to suddenly vanish and take care of some ghost or save someone's life or whatever."

"Heh, sounds good to me, cause I like you too, Danny. A lot, so you wanting to go on another date with me despite all the crap I gave you over the years… Well it really means a lot."

The two reached across the table to embrace their hands for a moment before they went back to eating. When it came time to the bill, Dash offered to pay stating that he was the one who asked him to dinner so it was only right he pay this time. Danny didn't really complain about that but said that the next time they were out it was on him.

Once their meal was done the pair decided to walk around for a bit to burn off some of their energy. It was a warm night and the sky was clear showing the stars hanging from the sky. For the moment it was just the two of them and feeling a bit bold Danny reached out and took a hold of Dash's hand, lacing their fingers together as they walked.

After strolling around for a bit they sat on a bench for a moment to enjoy the evening and the quiet night. No one else was about and it felt like nothing could ruin this night. That thought alone welcomed bad comings as the pair were suddenly aware of a crude sounding laugh coming from a nearby alley.

"Well lookie here… it's that blond kid that got us arrested." Danny glared at the man that came out from the alley followed by several other thugs that he recalled had tried to mug Dash a few weeks previous.

"And oh look, it's that guy that thinks he's tough because he wanted to gang up on one guy," Danny grunted annoyed that their date had gotten interrupted by something as common as street thugs. Ghosts he wouldn't have minded but these guys weren't worth an interruption to the good evening he and Dash were having.

"Kid, you best watch your mouth unless you want it knocked clear off!" The punk growled and cracked his knuckles in an attempt to look threatening.

"Dude, you may have us out numbered but we have you outmatched." Danny looked over at Dash with a cocky smirk and stood, "What do you say about burning off some of those calories, Dash?"

The blond stood and smiled down at the young man in front of him as he cracked his own knuckles and stretched out his neck, "Sounds good, otherwise I'll just have to work them off on my heavy bag at home."

The furious growl from the gang leader was what started the fight. He lunged at Danny with his right fist pulled up and back to strike at his face, but he saw it coming, ducked, and swung his leg out to trip the guy and cause him to fall face first onto the ground. He quickly jumped to the side as another guy came charging at him and then quickly had to duck again as a third threw a punch at his head. A quick twist around and Danny drove his elbow into the third guy's head as the second came charging back. This time he simply grabbed his arm as it was extending, turned around, and jerked down bringing the punk over his body and crash landing on the unforgiving concrete of the sidewalk they were fighting upon. Another quick punch to the solar plexus was all it took for the guy to be incapacitated and that left Danny to look back to see how Dash was doing.

The bigger teen was surprisingly agile from what he could see. Dash bounced on the balls of his feet and jumped left and right to avoid the punches of the other three guys before delivering his own right hooks and left jabs to their faces. It was almost pathetic really how Dash handled them when they had come out acting so strong and tough. One guy was already down for the count, and after a punch to the chin of the guy before him there was only the one left who quickly looked around looking for a place to run away. The jock wouldn't have any of that though and placing his weight on his right leg he sprung forward and drove his left fist into the guy's face while he landed on his left foot before he twisted around and finished him off with a hard right hook.

With the last member of the gang down for the count, Danny turned towards the leader who was starting to get up again. He grabbed the man by the back of his head and pulled it back in order to smile down at him. He made sure that he saw each of his lackeys on the ground before he turned his sight back onto the smaller of the two teens.

"Now I don't know a thing about you and quite frankly I don't care, but let me explain this to you clearly," Danny let go of the guy who caught his head before it could hit the pavement again, "We are both more than capable of fighting you guys off and we're not afraid to beat that fact into you but if you have any kind of sense of self-preservation I suggest you leave us and everyone else around here alone. You're not that tough and honestly you should be ashamed of even trying to pick a fight with how weak you guys are."

The shorter teen kept a smile on his face as he stood back up and jerked his head at his date, "Let's go, Dash we should be getting home anyway."

"Right behind, ya," he smiled and quickly got in step beside his date as they walked away. The pair kept quiet until they turned around a corner where they finally burst into laughter.

"That was awesome!" Dash laughed holding his side, "Did you see the way I handled those guys? I mean I wasn't even trying that hard and all it took was a few punches. I've been in a few fights before but I never knocked down someone after just two punches like that."

"I know! I mean when my mom first started training me even I lasted a lot longer and before that the only experience I had fighting was with my powers and ghostly strength. Those guys were just pathetic."

The pair of young men laughed some more as they made their way back to Dash's car. It had been an eventful night and even the impromptu fight with the street gang wasn't so bad.

Once inside they buckled up and fell into a comfortable silence as they drove along the streets of Amity. It wasn't too terribly late so they drove around listening to the radio as it played some soft music. Nothing really needed to be said after the fight and small talk seemed insignificant until Dash pulled up in front of Fenton Works.

Looking at the clock Danny almost wanted to sigh at how early it still was. It was barely past ten and his curfew wasn't until midnight but it felt like it was the right time to end their date, despite desperately not wanting it to end at all.

"So…," Dash smiled at Danny and rubbed at his neck, "I guess I'll see you at the pool on Monday or something. Maybe see you tomorrow if you're not busy?"

"Yeah I think I'd like that." Danny smiled and started to get out of the car before he turned and quickly placed a quick kiss on Dash's cheek.

"I had a good time tonight, Dash, thanks and I'll call you tomorrow." He grinned and quickly got out leaving the bewildered blushing blond sitting in his idling car. He felt like a bit of a tease doing that but he couldn't help but try and act as cool as possible around Dash. He didn't want to be seen as a dork and besides he liked to think he was a bit smooth, no matter what his track record with other people had been like before.

Danny made his way inside and quickly went up to his room feeling more confident and happier than he had in ages. It hadn't been the greatest of first dates in history he supposed, but for him it was a great evening. Once in his room he made his way to his bed and flopped back onto it with closing his eyes and thinking about the events of the evening with a fond smile until his ghost sense went off. He opened one eye not sensing anything hostile about the ghost and found himself looking at two ghost girls now standing in his room.

"Ember? Kitty? What are you guys doing here?"

"We heard someone had a date tonight and we wanted to hear how it went." Kitty smiled and sat herself down on the edge of his bed.

"Really?" Danny grunted annoyed, "I literally just got back and you two are already hounding me for details about a first date where nothing big would have happened? Don't you guys have anything more important to do?"

"We're dead, dipstick so… No." Ember grinned and pulled out his desk chair and straddled the back of it with her arms crossed waiting for any details to the young halfling's date.

Resigning himself to the antics of the two girls Danny started in on what happened on his date. They were a bit surprised at hearing his date was another guy but didn't really care about it at all. It was a bit weird to be talking with them about such things, but as his tale went on he couldn't have brought himself to care either. His life was surrounded by ghosts who were friends and foes and while it might have freaked out others he couldn't have imagined his life any differently anymore.

* * *

Ok so like I said, one more chapter left to go and the summer is over, need some ideas for what to happen in the fall besides what I already got in store, but regardless the next story will be awhile. More details in the next chapter.


	23. Ready, Steady

The final chapter. Don't be sad you all knew this was coming, just be glad I've started working on the outline for the next one and hopefully I'll figure it out more soon. I'm up for ideas, talking, bouncing ideas around and such, but just remember the final script is up to me so don't be upset if we talk a lot and I don't end up using anything. For now though enjoy the final chapter of A Specter of Summer.

* * *

Independence Day; a day for barbeques, fireworks, swimming, and in the case of one young man the day his bike was ready for the road. Dash watched Danny fiddle with his fingers as he watched his parents go over and examine every detail of his completed bike. It was understandable that the boy would be nervous at this point. After working so hard on it for so long he hoped that he hadn't goofed up on something that would prevent him from riding it. To Dash though it was a moot point, he knew Danny had a great deal of skills and had done everything right. The taller teen had no doubts that soon Fentons would give their son the go-ahead that his bike was ready for the street.

"Don't worry, Danny, you worked so long and hard on this there's no way you forgot anything," Dash put his sketch book aside and placed his hand over the other's as he smiled at him reassuringly.

It wasn't long after their first date that Danny came out to his parents and told them that the two were dating. Dash expected a bit of drama from it but they were surprisingly ok with it. The only thing that was actually said was from Mrs. Fenton who joked that now with Danny being gay and Jazz being married to her schooling that she'd never have grandkids. Mr. Fenton had chuckled at her good natured ribbing and said not unless she made it an open marriage and they all laughed at that.

It was weird to Dash how accepting his boyfriend's parents were but he was in all honesty very relieved they were ok with it. He didn't think his parents would be as accepting of him being gay but Dash was just glad that at least Danny's parents accepted him.

"I know I shouldn't worry but still I've spent months working on this, buying parts, welding metal, working on every last little detail and I just can't help it," Danny sighed and turned his right hand over so he could hold onto Dash's, "I just really hope that it's street worthy and that I didn't screw up anything."

"Well so far everything seems to be in working order, Danny, just give us a few more minutes and we'll be able to assess if you can ride it or not," Mrs. Fenton smiled at the boys before going back to look at the ignition and lights to check that they were all wired correctly.

"Why don't you two go get something to snack on and leave the rest to us," Mr. Fenton smiled up at them and pointed back towards the house, "We'll finish this up quickly and then come in with the news."

"I think that's a good idea, sir, c'mon, Danny." Grabbing the slender wrist of his boyfriend with one hand and his sketchbook with the other Dash led them into the house. Dash pushed him into a chair at the kitchen table and then went to rummage around for some drinks for them.

"And some citrus soda for you and a regular cola for me," Dash popped the tab on his can and smiled before he opened his sketch book again and started to work more on his latest drawing of Danny.

"Thanks, and sorry I'm not being real fun today. I'm just real nervous," he took a deep breath and tried to focus on Dash as he started to shade in some areas on his picture.

"So when do I get to see this new drawing of yours?" Danny asked as he tried to crane his head around to try to get a look at it.

"When it's done and I'm happy with it and not a minute sooner." Dash teased happily as he pulled it back to keep it out of his sight, "Besides you know it's a picture of you so really why do you want to see it so bad?"

"I like your work," Danny shrugged and Dash had to fight down a smile, "I wouldn't care if you're drawing the inside of a rotted out carcass I'd still want to see it because it's something you'd done."

"As charming an image as that was you're still not seeing it yet," the blond rolled his eyes and smiled fondly. Danny gave a small pout but Dash just continued to ignore him.

"Fine, but I still need something to distract me while my parents are rummaging around the garage examining every square inch of my bike! It's driving me nuts not knowing if today is going to be the day that I can take her out on the street or not!"

"Oh just eat a banana or something and be patient. You'll see; before you know it you'll be out on the road and driving that thing like you were born to do it."

"A banana?" Dash looked up at to see Danny smiling slyly as he got up to move to the fruit bowl on the counter, "You know I could make you regret saying that…"

"Danny…" Dash glared as the young man smiled at him and started to tease him with the banana. They hadn't gone very far in their relationship physically. Neither one was really ready for sex, but that didn't stop them from teasing each other and doing things to make the other blush. It was more frustrating for Dash though because Danny was often very sly and sneaky doing things to the blond that left him needing a cold shower later.

"What is it, Dash?" Danny slowly peeled the banana and started to nibble at the tip.

"Your parents are right outside and you're doing this to me now?" He groaned and squirmed a bit in his seat.

"I need a distraction and I want to see your sketch book. So either show me or I'll just find other means of amusing myself," the dark haired teen smiled as he licked the fruit and Dash just put his hands to his face before pulling them down in frustration.

"You're insufferable, you know that?" Dash closed his book and walked over to his boyfriend and pulled him flush against his body before kissing him, "Be glad you're so handsome otherwise I don't think anyone would put up with you."

"Heh, just had to try," he shrugged and took a large bite of the banana before pulling back and sitting at the table again. Dash just shook his head ruefully and walked behind him to rub his shoulders some. It was barely a minute later that they head someone coming.

"Well I think we have a verdict." Mrs. Fenton came walking in pulling off her blue hood and goggles.

The shoulders that Dash was holding onto suddenly filled with a nervous tension as both boys looked up to the adults walking into the kitchen.

"Everything seems to be in working order, nothing seems out of place and as far as we can tell you've assembled a fine piece of machinery, Danny." Mr. Fenton smiled proudly at his son.

"Only thing left to do is to start her up and see how she drives," the large man held up a key chain with a shiny new green key on it and grinned widely.

"You mean…?" Danny started to laugh as both his parents nodded at him and he stood up quickly and ran to give them both a hug, "Thank you! Let's do this then!"

The teen ran past them as fast as his legs could carry him, phasing through the doors and walls to take as quick a path to the garage as possible.

Dash merely shook his head and followed the Fentons as they walked back behind their son. He stopped for a moment in the backyard to watch the ghost Undergrowth tending to some flowers that had started to bloom around the edge of the yard before he moved in to see his boyfriend staring at his treasured bike. It had been painted like Dash had drawn it out to be, mostly black with streaks of blue and white along the edges, deep blue waves along the side of the fenders that were accented with whites and blacks. The compartments had been given green swirls along the sides and the seats looked well treated in whatever black material they were made from. From the windshield to the chrome fenders Dash couldn't help but be amazed at how this had once been just a simple drawing on paper but was now something physical before him.

And sitting on the bike now was the young man who had built it from the wheels up. Danny straddled the machine with the key in the ignition and looked both nervous and excited as he held it tight in his hand. After looking up to see that everyone was assembled, he took a deep breath and turned the ignition.

After a tense second the motor turned over and revved to life. Danny went wide eyed and started to laugh excitedly at hearing the engine running. He revved the engine a few times and Dash admired the roar that vibrated from the beast Danny had built. It was a powerful sound, but not exactly so loud that it was obnoxious or painful to the ears. Just a noise that let you know it was a beast that was not to be messed with.

"IT WORKS!" Danny laughed almost hysterically in his excitement, "Holy Cow I can't believe it! I actually built myself a working motorcycle! This is so, so, SO AWESOME!"

The excitement in the air was contagious and Dash soon found himself laughing along with his boyfriend. He had worked hard and long on this and it was great to see all his efforts come to fruition.

Danny turned off his bike and turned to his parents again and gave each of them a hug. He was like a kid at Christmas with the one present he wanted more than anything. He was so excited he didn't even seem to notice what was going on with his parents as he went back to looking over his bike again like it was the first time he ever saw it. So it wasn't a shock that he didn't see them pulling a box out from a nearby storage container.

"Danny?" Mrs. Fenton smiled and put a hand on the box Mr. Fenton held in his hands, "I think there's one more thing that you'll be needing before you take your bike out."

"Huh?" The teen in question walked over to his parents and looked between them and the box, "Like what?"

"Well if you're going to ride a motorcycle you're going to need this," Danny's mom tapped on the box and when he opened the box he grinned at what was inside.

"You got me a riding helmet?" He pulled out the shiny black helmet that had a dark tinted visor from the box and seemed to grin even wider.

"Well of course. Do you think we'd let you take that thing out of here without one? It wasn't like it was expensive either so we were even able to get you a spare for any," Mrs. Fenton cleared her throat and looked over at Dash with a wry smile, "Riding partners you might have tag along."

A slight flush of embarrassment rose to Dash's cheeks and he had to look away before his face could get any redder. He didn't even look back at the family until he felt something hard hit his chest.

"Well?" Dash looked at Danny as he pushed another helmet just like his against his body, "I think a nice ride to celebrate its completion is in order, so put your helmet on and climb on."

The shorter teen grinned as he slipped his helmet on and climbed onto his bike before revving it to life. Again the roar of the mechanical beast must have been like music to his ears to Danny the way he laughed about the noise, but Dash did not waste anymore time thinking about that. He pulled the helmet that was the same style as Danny's over his head and climbed on behind him. Putting his hands on Danny's hips Dash sat back a respectable distance and got situated before they started to pull out of the garage.

"Be careful, sweetie, and if you're going to stay out and watch the fireworks let us know ok?" Mrs. Fenton smiled and leaned against her husband as she watched them going down their driveway.

"We will! Bye guys and thanks again for everything!" Danny yelled through his helmet and over the roar of the engine before he pulled out into the street and started to drive away.

Once they got a few blocks away Danny decided to really test out the mettle of his bike. He revved it up a bit and started to speed down the roads as fast as he could legally go. It was thrilling to be going at such speeds but it was still a bit scary and Dash instinctively pulled himself closer to Danny so he wouldn't go flying off.

"Enjoying yourself there, Dash?" Even though it was muffled by the helmet and the sounds of the engine, Dash could still hear the playfulness of the smaller teen's voice. It was a bit frightening for him but while he was scared of the high speeds he also felt a strange sense of safety from doing this with Danny, knowing he wouldn't let him get hurt if anything bad happened.

"Yeah, it's a bit scary going this fast and with it being my first time on a motorcycle but I know you'll keep us safe." It may have been a sappy comment, but if the way Danny bunched his shoulders together and squirmed a bit he could tell it was well received.

They continued to drive along the roads making their way out of town without incident until they reached a hill that overlooked the entire town. After parking the bike the pair got off and sat down under a tree to get comfortable. The air was hot for the July evening but a nice breeze blew through the air to keep it from being too unbearable.

"So you want to stay here and watch the fireworks together or you need to head home?"

Dash looked over at Danny leaning back on his elbows as they sat together and shrugged, "I can stay out. Not like I've got plans or anything for tonight otherwise. Besides hanging out with my boyfriend and watching the fireworks sounds a heck of a lot better than going home."

"Sure is strange to get to say that isn't it? 'Boyfriend' I mean a few years ago we were both trying to date girls and I don't know about you, but even on the few dates I managed to get things just felt better on a friendly level than on a romantic one."

"Yeah," Dash sat beside him and fell back onto the grass with his arms behind his head to look up at the darkening sky, "I get that perfectly. I mean I dated a lot of girls and all but nothing ever really just clicked."

He looked over at Danny smiling but saw that he had an unamused frown on his face. Wondering what he could have said that would upset him Dash did a quick back track in his head before it dawned on him.

"Just dated now. I mean it was mainly going out to movies, get a bite to eat, maybe a bit of kissing but nothing serious I can assure you. I mean I've never… well you know."

"Ehh, sorry," Danny blushed embarrassed and rubbed at his arms, "I guess just hearing about how popular you are with girls, and really people in general, is a bit of a sore subject for me. And that's not even taking into account how easy it seemed for you to be able to get a date."

"I'll admit with my spot on the football team and everything I am pretty popular, but I just know how to talk to people. It's all about being confident and in control, and given what you've told me about back in our freshman year you didn't have a lot of control over your powers yet and that obviously affected how people saw you."

It was a valid argument and Danny didn't say anything else on the matter as they continued to sit and watch the sun set. Both teens eventually called their respective parents to say that they'd be staying out to watch the fireworks and Dash told his dad that he'd be staying over at a friend's place that night.

From there the two sat back and waited, talking about any subjects that came to mind. The conversation was light and pleasant as they waited and soon after the night sky had darkened they started to hear the distant explosions of fireworks going off.

"Ah man look at that blue one!" Dash pointed to an explosion of blue streaks that had little bits of silver and green mixed in.

"You like the blue ones? I like the ones that kind of blow up and they blow up again all white and yellow," Danny smiled and looked up at the sky as a few rockets exploded at once in various colors.

"I just like that shade of blue," Dash smiled charmingly, "It reminds me so much of someone's eyes that I know."

Danny smiled softly and reached up to stroke Dash's face as more fireworks went off in the night sky, "Such a charmer, it's a wonder you don't have a girlfriend with that silver tongue of yours."

"Well what can I say, guess I just will have to settle for having an amazing superhero boyfriend who can fly, freeze things, pass through solid walls, and build awesome motorcycles." He sighed like he was settling for second best but the grin that spread across his face showed he was kidding and Danny couldn't help but roll his eyes at him.

It had been a great day and now lying back on the grass together, Dash felt at ease with the world. There wasn't any big issue that was going on in his life, according to Danny the issue with the Ghost Zone was done with for now, and they still had several weeks of summer vacation before they had to go back to school and start their senior year. All in all it was a perfect time and there was only one thing that could make this day better.

Reaching over Dash started to pull Danny towards him and with a small hopeful smile leaned in to kiss his lips. Just as their lips were to meet, though a cold brush of air escaped from Danny's mouth. In an instant he pulled back and went from casual and relaxed to alert and ready. Dash watched as his eyes darted about and his whole body tensed up ready for a fight.

"What's the matter? You sense a ghost?" Dash started to get up and look around to see if he could spot anything which he knew wouldn't be useful if whatever it was that Danny sensed was invisible.

"I definitely sensed a ghost, but…" He looked around some more before he started to relax again, "I don't know it was a small presence… like whatever it was wasn't very big. I don't sense it now though so maybe it was just some spirit that was flying over head towards who knows where."

He went back to sitting on the ground and let out another sigh as they went back to watching the fireworks. Dash pulled them together and Danny just smiled over at him. It only took another moment when the two locked gazes again for them to kiss; the rough lips of the quarterback meeting the smoother ones of the half ghost. Under the lights of the exploding fireworks the two young men kissed, unaware of a small green moth that fluttered over them in a nearby tree and broadcasted what it saw to a dark cave deep in the Ghost Zone.

"Soon enough we will be able to take down the ghost boy, My Queen," a rough masculine voice spoke from the darkness, "Just a little longer and our plans will come to fruition." The voice chuckled as a soft red glow emanated from the chrysalis nearby.

* * *

You can't hold them back. These two have a big year ahead of them and a lot to go through both together and as individuals.

For those of you following this story, _An Apparition of Autumn_ is now up, the sequel to this story.


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